Pax Americana
by Indigard
Summary: After the assassination of Emperor Molt Sol Augustus, the peace treaty between the Empire and Japan was at the blink of collapse due to the aggression of Prince Zorzal. Pina tried to save the peace treaty but soon realized she wasn't the only player in the game. On the other side of the gate, superpowers had started their own plans to gain access to the Special Region.
1. Author notes

Greeting GATE fans, thank you for checking out my story but before reading chapter 1, you should take some time on my author notes first because my story is a little bit different compared to other GATE fanifcs in many perspectives

about me :

The first and most important thing, I'm not a native English speaker and I'm trying to write a fanfiction in English. Although I can read, listen, speak and write in english fairly good (at least in the standard for high school level) but there is still a huge difference beteween writing an english essay at school and writing a fanfic. Therefore, you will see some weird errors, using strange words and weird ways of writting (I will explain this later), spelling mistakes and other funny miskates that a native English speaker will not never make when you read my story. I hope you will sympathize with this defect of me and I promise to use every possible means (translation software, asking help from people who is execllent at writting english, read more books) to improve my writting skill through each chapter

About my story:

**First you need to know that this is a translated story **

Pax Americana on is not a original story because Pax Americana at the first was written in my mother tongue. So it mean if you read Pax Americana on Fafiction, you are reading the translated version which was also done by me. The original version have already had 15 chapters so i still have a long way to go and many effort to be made because I have to keep on writing new chapters and translating older chapters into English at the same time

And here is the reason why I said you would find some sentences and the way of writing a little bit weird. Something that make sense when it was written in my mother tongue are completely nonsense when written in english, plus my english writing skills is not good enough to translate a sentences, or a pharagrah into english while guarantee that the meaning remain intact. Although I promise I would try my best to limit these annoying things but you should expect something cringey while reading it.

**Why do I do this? **

I know it gonna be a lot of work to do and a lot of effort to be made but I don't think I am just wasting my time like my friend said when I told them what I was going to do**. **First of all, I love the manga GATE (Not the Anime, it is just terrible for my taste), I like GATE fanfics and had been reading them since they were still 2 or 3 stories. I told myself that one day I would write a good story then share it with everyone and I have already done that in some kind of way but I still feel not enough. Secondly, I want to improve my English and this seem to be a great opportunity. I was taught by my teacher that in the order to learn a new language, you must use it and I keen to take her advice to the heart.

**Why America?**

At this moment, you must be asking that question yourself. Why does a person who doesn't have any real connection to the U.S (Execpt my english teacher come from Boston) bother writing a story about America or American? Of course, it would be natural for Americans to l write something about their country entering the Gate, so does Mexican, French, Chilean, Malaysian. Then why don't I do the same? Well, There are many reason behind my decision

\- The American intervene in Special Region is most likely due to the fact that America have enough political power and other means to make Japan give in. If any superpower have acess to the Gate after Japan then it should be U.S. Even in the case that US couldn't send a expeditionary force to the Special Region, they still can find a way to have a handful of men on the other side of the Gate legally or illegally.

\- the prospect of U.S involvement in Special Region is the best way to connect my story to what had already happend in the Manga/Anime as well as ensure every ogrinal characters in the manga have significant roles to play and not just "be there".

\- The America is diverse but I'm not talking about skin color. Diversity of thoughts, economic backgrounds, ways of life is greatest writing material ever

\- American foreign policies, the CIA, U.S Army, and involvement in recent conflicts make it became a gold mine especially when you intend to write something about war or politic. It is just too many things to talk about when it come to the U.S and one perspective is never enough.

\- I find the idea of the Gate appearing in somewhere else outside Japan is predictable, boring and hard to connect to incidents in the Manga.

**What are the differences?**

Beside the cringey way of writing and misuse of words (which should be expected), there are still a few things you need to know

\- _No big battles for a while_. Because when my story began, the war between Sadera Empire and Japanese was officially over so you wont see battles with tanks, artillery, aircraft like battle of Italica or Alnus Hill any time soon. Beside, I am not really a big fan of large scale battles and the story was told in 3rd person POVs so if there were big battles, you would only saw a part of it through character's eyes.

\- _Not a military hardcore kind of guy_. I like military equipments and cutting - egde technology and modern war machines etc but I take a larger interest in people when it come to writing. Therefore, I would not focus heavily on weaponry like many authors.

\- _The political view_. This is a important matter that need to be mentioned. The character's views on nations and wars, right and wrong belong to the characters themselves not me. For example, a character who is patriotic would think, react, behave in the way you expected a partriot to think and behave. The same go to those holding cynical view on his nation or suspicious of the cause that they are fighting for. When a character hate something while love other things and hold certain point of views, it doesn't mean that I do hate and love the same things and hold the same views too although I am the one who create them.

\- _More forcus on Special Region cultures, races, history. _Most of them was self- invented because the manga and even light novel didnt provide much when it came to this matter.

\- For plot development and character development, there are some fictional units, incidents that were inspired by real things that happened in our world.


	2. Kayle I

This is translated version of Pax Americana( The original version had already had 15 chapter and if you want read it via google translate, just PM me). Because English is my native language so if there were any parts didnt sound right to you, just let me know and i would try to explain it.

**KAYLE**

South Japan Sea - 3:00 am

Kayle Wilson woke up when the helicopter entering the bad weather in the southern Japanese sea. The compartment began to shake, and the engine kept emitting scary sounds, making it easy to think it was about to explode. If a world apocalypse happened tomorrow, it must have started like this. When she was not able to know what the hell was going on, another shockwave came, this time seemingly more dangerous than the last, Kayle fell off from her chair, her head hitting the wall.

Ignoring the dizzying pain, she got up, tightened her seat belt and crouched down; Outside, the sea was dark but still and cold. A good sign nonetheless, in the worst case, the crew had to swim a long distance to the shore. The captain still had not sent out an emergency signal yet, and when the helicopter crashed into the water, it was probably too late. They had no lifeboats but no one actually needed it if the Black Hawk broke into pieces after the impact. There wouldn't be enough time to do anything else, she concluded, they had to get out of this place quick before the sea engulfed everything. Now Kayle only hope that the water down there wouldn't be too cold because she, in fact, wasn't a great swimmer to begin with.

"Hold on!" The captain's voice rang out on the radio. His was thịck and booming, smelling like two or three shots of Whiskey.

"Chris, we are going down too fast."

His co-pilot yelled in panic. He was a tall and muscular man but Kayle didn't know his name.

"Pay attention to the hydraulic system, Cooper" Chris shouted. "Harvey, Hold on. "

Harvey is the name of the machine gunner who just had celebrated his twentieth birthday month ago. A farm boy from Colorado with yellow teeth and cheeks full of acne. His face was now pale, desperately clinging to the protective belt like those who were shipwrecked, refusing to let go of even a small piece of wood.

The water splashes relentlessly on the window, and Kayle knew the helicopter was flying very low. Thirty feet at best. Emergency light automatically turn on, dark red and mournful like blood, sirens howl loudly, filling the air with it's sharp and creeping noise. When the undulating waves began to appear on the opaque glass door, she knew what was about to happen

Five more seconds, no more. Her instinct told her. A loud noise then burst and broken

Taking a deep breath, Kayle waited. She was no stranger to Death, a lonely and gloomy old man, not a decent person whatsoever. He reached his hand into the air, grabbed the heart of some pitiful person, then leisurely looked at his tropy as warm was slowly leaving it. Often, old men and women were deceitful prey, but lately he paid more attention to the youths and their lively activities in the heat of desert sun. It must be said that the god of death is eating and making, although there was some failures, but those weren't big problems anyways because Death always left an appointment when he departed, reminding people that sooner or later they would meet him again.

Like today, in rare occasion of kindness, he generously gave her another appointment.

The Black Hawk made a beautiful loop on the sea surface, the inertia force made her muscles tense, her chest ached and her ears nearly deaf. Everything happened within a few heartbeat, and when Kayle was able to regain control of her body, it was all over. Chris just had a spectacular comeback, like swollen eye and broken nose Marquez thrown the knock-out punch at Pacquiao before the bell of round six rang up

"We are saved!" Chris exclaimed happily. "16 feet! Lord have mercy. That was sixteen feet for sure"

Kayle didn't know if it was alcohol making him more excited than usual or not because she saw the other two people just sitting silently on their seat. This is probably the first time they stepped one foot into the grave, an experience that she would not call pleasant.

When the helicopter got a little higher, the rescue light and the siren also went out. The darkness poured into the cavity, greedily occupied all the large and small spaces, except Havey's face, melancholy and tired in the dim moonlight.

In the twilight, Kayle tried to find her luggage, which had disappeared during the last near death experience. Despite of being called luggage it was nothing but a collection of a few set of clothes, toothpaste and towels in the backpack with the Fort Bragg logo in the front, the result of being pulled out of bed at two in the morning. Finding it right now wasn't an easy task because cabin was a mess: mailers sent from homeland, wrapped in silver paper lied sprawlingly on the floor, some wooden crates looked like a mortar shells boxes was stacked on top of each other, forming a gray-green wall that blocked the passage to the cockpit.

"Great," she mumbled. "They called me up at two and put me on a cart."

Any leftover space is fully utilized, just took down the sub-bench and you would have room for some beer blocks. Someone that she guesses it must be Havey had came up with the idea of turning the helicopter's compartment into a work of art like what people saw at churches in Rome. The sexy black-haired Megan Fox in a leopard-colored bikini stood next to smoking Scarlett Johanson lying seductively on the beach with the three bold red words "Welcome to Malibu" in the background. And that is the only decent piece of art in this temple that Kayle could look at, the rest was just straight out vulgar and lacking of cloth. Men were born to be warriors as well as women born to satisfy warriors, Nietzsche was so sure of that and because the men believed , Kayle partly accepted it as long as they didn't except her to satisfy anyone of them.

It took about five minutes for Harvey to regain his composure, he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his hand, but his eyes were still absentmindedly looking at the land afar, where the city lights were only blurry spots in the mist. With a somewhat selfish feeling, she hoped this gloomy situation would last, at least until they arrived in Tokyo because countless times, she found that those eyes were glaring at her. It was a look that confused others, making them have a felling of they were naked.

"Havey, check the damage. You have two minutes. Are you okay, Major? "

"Still alive," she replied curtly. "The flight is not what I expected."

It might be a little bit impolite but Kayle had the authority to speak like that because after all, she was the one that had the highest rank here.

"Sorry about that," he laughed. "Usually, the weather is not so bad, but you know, God likes to do thing in his own way. I always believe that if we ... "

"I can't find my belongings, Captain" Kayle interrupted, groping for a while in the darkness eroding her patience, while her head was still hurt like hell after the unintentional impact with the floor.

The gunner overheard that and with strange enthusiasm, he took off his protective belt and gave her a hand. A few times, their hands clumsily touched each others and she was the one who immediately draw her back. Havey was smiling, Kayle didn't see his face clearly but she knews it. Eight months at Fort Bragg had made her became an expert on such matter. They would find every way to touch you from the dining room to the practice ground. Her training officers, teammates, guards, maintenance and protection workers, even the cooks, all of them. Men seemed to be obsessed with the idea of touching her butt or Kayle was the one thinking they were going to do so then got paranoid from it.

_There was no way__ that everyone collude w__ith each others just to do that_ she told herself.

"It's too dark in here," Havey complaint "I can't see a thing."

"Wait a minute" when he finished the sentence, the light was turned on. This time it wasn't red anymore but a cyan color. The machine gunner did not have much trouble in finding the backpack and when she was about to say thank you, that hideous glare of his appeared again. In the dim light, it looked even more disgusting.

"I guess got this one, Lieutenant" Havey said mischievously "Ten buck! No! It must be twenty. "

" Ten." Chris dismissedb ut weakly "Don't be greedy."

"I swear to god that you promise me twenty and Cooper can testify that. "

At first, she didn't understand what they were talking about but she guessed it had something to do with a bet. Copper insisted that as a true man, his superior should keep his word and Chris had to reluctantly agree to that. The atmosphere was disturbed by the excitement of the three of them and suddenly no one remembered that they had just escaped the jaw of death a few minute ago. The captain wanted to know what Havey was going to do with that money and he had also set out a rather ambiguous plan, full of possibilities if he were the winner.

"Straight to the club. There is a nice little place outside the base and the ticket is only three "Havey said," Then I would buy myself a Johnny Walker and some chip "

"It costs one hundred and fifty dollars," Copper snorted. "Not enough."

"No problem, I got two hundred dollar from another bet yesterday. Do you know Dickon? The handsome prick at Nanto base?"

"Yes" Chris nodded. "Rumors said he was son of somebody in the senate. Is it true?"

Descendants of big guy always received special treatments and in the military, the word "special" should always be understood in a negative way. Kayle was in this bloody bussiness long enough to know the hatred was real the U.S Army would be disturbed to find out how many people had joint its rank due to people like Dickon. There were thousands reasons for people to join the army. Some was pure patriotic, fighting to protect American values, something that Kayle had still failed to indentify.A a quarter was after adventure and free oversea travels, many consider soldering as a profession and there always were people who got their head shaved in oder to find a thing called equality.

Young people from blue colar families soon found it hard or impossible to join the upper middle class . It was the harsh truth even though the chorus of "An American Dream" was never get old. Guys like Harvey were excited with an idea battlefields were where they re-establish order that had long been turned upside down, where money, status becames meaningless, and just with a little bit of courgage and luck, they would have all the right to stand tall and strong with their head held high in front of those snobs . Luck, she wasn't so sure but kayle knew that they never lack of recklessness

During her time at the training camp, it was fortunate for Kayle because apart from being a woman, they did not pay attention to other things. It would have been worse if someone knew her father was Lieutenant General Ronald.

"He keep telling people that he was here to served his country, and how unfair it was if he sat at home watching his compatriots shed blood." Havey said, of course in a mocking tone. "That's right. Our Dickon is indeed a crusader, Mr. Dickon is willing to give up the villa by the lake to come here with us! Lying son of bitch! He came here just because the number of people that came to see his parents with his child in their bellies had been up to three. "

"How the hell you know that?" Surprised Cooper

"If you don't want others to know your little dirty secrets, don't have one then. Anyway, I gave him some money. I challenged him to date the Japanese baby at the grocery store within a week. "Havey told him " If I lose, I would have to do all his bidding in the next three month but on the bright side, I would get two hundred buck. Needless to say how angry that idiot got when the girl just simly ran off everytime he tried to approach. She didn't say to him a goddamn word and I won the bet. "

Kayle had to admit that the guy was bold. Chris assume that Harvey had done something.

"Did you cheat?"

"Can't say I did. I didn't collude with that girl if that is what you think. I didnt had to actually because I known she is a mute for a long time. "

Two pilots laughed. Kayle smiled as well, just a very light smirk but it was enough to please Havey. She wasnt a cold and distance type of person and has no intention to be one.

Ever since the day Louie left home with a few hundred bucks and decided to watch the world through the kitchen of Bobby Van's Steakhouse while outside, a bunch of tycoons, upjumped stock brokers and CEOs Goldman Sach was dinning with French wine and 200$ steak then whatever once belonged to him: his hunting rifle, his room, his responsibility and inheritance - her father insisted on naming him off his will- were all pushed to her.

"From now on, you are my son. Don't disappointed me like Louie."

Her father had said that after Louie was gone for about a week

To Kayle, his words were more like an order than a request. Until now she still wondered why she didn't have any resistance, even the smallest of objection to his strange decision. She should have tried to deny or join Louie on his way to New York. But no, all she did was silent and accepted her fate. Maybe it was because things happened so fast that she didn't have time to think, to react properly or maybe she was afraid her father would have a heart attack if she said no. The desertion of Louie was too much for him and one more time would be a critical blow. Although he always tried to act tough and hard outside, but once, she saw the lieutenant general sitting in front of the fireplace with Louie's hunting rifle in his hand. He used a towel to wipe the dust off the gun before carefully putting it back.

"Someday, maybe," her father said quietly as if he didn't want anyone to hear. "I will wait."

At a young age, Kayle keen to the idea that she would end up married a good-looking acongressman or general when growing up and in fact, she was raised to do that kind of thing. She went to a private school, had a best tutors that money could buy to make sure she knew the proper way to play piano and read Iliad fluently in three languages. Kayle dreamed of rallies in Boston, Carolina and garden parties where the living room was always full of laughter from the ladies, while men were busy discussing about voters and electoral college. Her mother had twenty-eight years of happiness with such a life and she obviously wanted to be like her.

Even after eight years had passed, she had still not stopped thinking about the day she stood in front of the mirror in the oversized hunting suit and that ugly stupid duck-head hat which hid aways beautiful gloden curls that was once her pride and lament :

"What the hell am I doing?"

Her father taught her everything he had taught Louie when he was ten: hunting, camping, arts of leadership, military tradition. There were some difficulties, but she was able to overcome eventually. Kayle shot very well, better than she thought. In the state-wide contest one year later, she won the final prize. This achievement prompted her to enter the name of the army sniper rifle, but her father frowned at the idea.

He managed to get her into West Point under the patronage of a colonel who owed him favors and one of those would explain why he was vice principal at the academy. That first step for Louie and now her has a leg in the Pentagon. It must be said that the plan was conducted with military precision, Lieutenant General Ronald had foreseen everything except for the stubbornness of his son. No, he didn't expect her to be that stubborn either. The prospect of sacrificing old life in exchange for thirty years sitting behind the desk, attending boring talks and waiting for endorsement from her father's powerful old friends made Kayle sick to the bone. No ! Thousands of times no. Father could force Kayle to give up her old life but she herself must be the person that choose the new ones.

Strangely, resisting at that time was so easy.

One day in late January when it was still cold and wet, people saw a Mercedes stopped in front of the gate of Fort Bragg, the home of US special forces. Kayle stepped out of the car with a puzzling joy, completely opp the general, sadly and tiredly trudging like a man who was about to stand before firring squad.

"I don't know what to say but wish you luck." She saw his cheeks flushed due to the cold. "But if there is something change your mind, you know you can give me a call. I ca..."

"No," Kayle interrupted him. She would not give up halfway then go asking for his help "Never"

After that, Kayle strode inside so six years later, she wished she had said "Yes".

"That was how you won two hundred dollars bet, so what ten dollars was for?"

Kayle asked unconcernedly, like when we accidentally heard an interesting story in a pub then invited that man a few more beers, hoping that they would tell us something even more interesting. However, she only receive a strange silence as their response. Suddenly all three of them held their breath as if she had just committed a sacrament.

Somehow, Kayle had a feeling that this bet had something to do with her. The soldiers' hoax with the commander is not unusual because she herself also spent ten dollars to guess the day Colonel Peterson divorce the wife that had been cuckolding him for years. Winning usually wasn't important when the fun here was never get caught.

"Lieutenant Chris?" She was waiting for an answer."Do you have something to say?"

"Well ..." he faltered. "It's merely about the mission."

" Mission? Well then, Whose mission is this? "

"Yours, Major" Chris replied hesitantly

Kayle leaned back in her chair, her legs crossed and then she gave Havey a sharp look that made his face turned pale again. Admittedly, intimidating subordinates had its own fun.

Chris took a breath and said:

"You know, Major, we don't have high ranking officer on our aircraft before. Usually, early flights like this one are only for the delivery of letters and parcels left over from the previous batch. So when I saw you at the airport, I told Harvey that you look like Demi Moore but he didn't think so. "

Many women wiould jump up with joy when people compared them to that once- famous movie star but Kayle only found this confusing more than ever because she could see for herself that Demi Moore and her didn't have anything in common, regardless it was the shape of their faces or hair colors. Demi Moore was green eyes brunette and she was a blondie.

"In A Few Good men. She played a naval lawyer who went to Gauntanamo to investigate the murder. I thought that you are going to save some private from the cell in Tokyo but It seem I was wrong, Madam. "

"And how you know that?"

She remembered that she had never mentioned the mission in Tokyo as well as who she was and where she came from. Pilots could only know each passenger name, destination but they rarely was provided with anything else than that.

"The badge on your packback, Madam."

Havey quickly jumped into the conversation and It took Kayle a few second to understand his vague explanation. The old backpack was some sort of her ID card now and it wasn't too hard to realize the number of military lawyers that were trained at Fort Bragg was nearly zero.

"Are you special force?" Cooper showed a surprised "Seal? No they don't allow female canidate so it must be Delta?"

"Specter," she replied.

It is quite a unfamiliar name to many but if they have been in Iraq or Afghanistan, they must have known this unit. During last years of Iraq War, the United States realized that it could not win the urban guerilla warfare the usual methods. The nearly-decade conflict was all about small engagements on dusty streets, house to house fighting in shabby suburban neighborhoods where U.S troop could get ambushed by insurgents as easy as politicans in Washington get ones for their own from protesters every time mortar shells knocked down some buildings. Because heavy weapons had became somewhat of obstacle, they turned attention to special forces.

SEAL and Delta were the first to enter this new bussiness, they fought alongside with companies of marine, conducting raids on enemy hideout at five o'clock when they was still busy for afternoon pray. No more homes were destroyed by bombs and artillery shells, casualties were also reduced, the generals were pleased at the result as American public were pleased at the prospect that their boy would go home soon. Everyone was happy except for Iraqis - of course they always found something to upset about. But soon battlefield commanders realized they were exhausting two most elite units of the United States Army. SEAL's main task was to eliminate valuable targets, not play cat and mouse all days with rebels and moreover, the losses had also began to appear, losses that could not replace easily. So the army needed a new task force capable of carrying the burden and that how Specter was created.

Spectre's early goal was to find and eliminate as many insurgents as possible, a glorious job, making everyone in the team thought of themselves as heroes in the first few months but that was only before the CIA took over. Missions began to get dirty, they often broke into other people's homes at midnight, dragged suspects out of bed and threw them onto trucks, sometimes she even received orders to arrest even women and children because there was some genius in the commanding staff thought "extreme methods" would succeed where breaking teeth and water boarding had failed . Under the protective wings of the intelligence department, Spectre was allowed to use all kinds of brutal methods as long as they get job done.

Although she was not directly involved in the interrogations, Kayle also heard some talk. CIA had a prison camp right in Iraq, a compound disguised as a fertilizer plant, surrounded by concrete walls and Specter personels defending them. Conditions of detention was so terrible that as long as prisoners still drew breathe, they would suffer from it. The press sniffed of something in the air but before they were able to came out with a conclusion or located the facility, CIA had already brunt everything down to the ground and transferred all prisoners to another place. The clever spy masters were very keen on maintaining black site like this as they gave Spectre so many front covers that she lost count. The last one was "La Fontaine", a nonprofit organization avocating for fresh water, which was a little bit ironic because at least twice, Spectre had tried to posion water sources.

Due to the involvement in torture, the Army quickly gave up the command of Spectre to CIA. A wise move indeed because when shit would finally hit the fan, they just need to rub their hands together and say "Specter is a unit under authority of CIA and we have nothing to do with it".

_Well, the reckoning day did came, just sooner than they expected._

"Spectre in Japan? Boys, we will be heading to trouble soon." Said Chris, there was a sadness in his voice "War seem to be everywhere these day, even on this part of the globe"

This man was no doubt a veteran of the " Operation Iraqi Freedom" a somewhat fancy name for an American disasterous adventure.

"I don't mind fighting." Harvey declared "I'm ready, you know."

Kayle couldn't say she was ready. Right from the moment the holy warrior fell from the third-floor state to the ground with a penny-sized hole on her head, she knew she was never ready. Each time she pulled the trigger, every time blood hit the wall, carpet and curtains, a part of her died as well. They had taught her the most perfect way to kill but forgot to tell her how to live with it. After the runied and violent Iraq and a Afganishtan which was equally devastating, she just wanted to go to a peaceful place where she could spend the morning writing reports, having lunch in the cafeteria, walking around on city streets without fearing of the garbage bin on the corner suddenly exploded. Her father was right. Thirty years sitting behind the desk and waiting for favor wasn't a bad idea.

"It may not come to that. Specter was dissolved years ago and I'm just a training officer."

Kayle tried to reassure Chris but why did she have a feeling that she said that just to reassure herself? An urgent call from Tokyo, a hasty flight, the order is obscure. Something horrible was going on and worst of all, she had absolutely no idea what it was.

"The gate." Cooper said, "It can only be it."

Thinking back, this was more like a joke than something that should have been brought into an adult conversation. A bizarre object, from nowhere, suddenly appeared in Tokyo's most rhythmic area, a bloodbath between the JSDF and invaders riding dragons and knights in chainmail armor, a large scale counter attack ended with a crushing victory for the Japanese. Even when the smoke hadn't cleared and the people had still not stopped dying on the ruined streets of Syria, the media was still flooded with news about a far-east country and a golden age of exploration.

Kayle tend to continue the story but Chris interrupted.

"We have arrived at Tokyo, Major. Estimated landing time is 4:50 am."

Kayle glanced briefly through the window of the doorway, her heart pounding with excitement. Tokyo did not disappoint her a bit. It was gorgeous in colorful neon lights, separate residential areas were strung together by winding roads and skyscrapers stood tall and proud, challenging the October cold. A bustling city is just like her imagination of a girl from West Virginia. If Kayle, a major, an American confessed that she didn't know how a big city look like, people would laugh at her face. Before joining the army, the small town of Hasen was the closest thing to the urban light that she had ever got, then she only knew Bagdad, a city that was also famous for being crowded but people prefered to stay indoor during the daytime and not foolish enough to poked their heads out at night. In general, Kayle doesn't know anything about New York, Washington or Los Angeles except for what she got from magazines, movies and housing ads.

As they flew across the city center, Kayle asked Chris to lower the attitude so she could see the street below clearly. Chris happily followed and she was not hesitate to thank him with the most sincere attitude.

"Did you come to Tokyo the first time? Impressed? "Asked Chris.

She should have said this was the first time she saw a real city but only.

The gate Cooper mentioned was in the Ginza but she couldn't see it from here. Far west, between high-rise buildings, stood Tokyo Skytree, the second highest structure of the world magnificently sparkling in blue neon lights. She had seen the tower in the newspaper, but looking at the spectacle of architecture through a 6x9 photo frame and seeing it with bare eyes was a huge difference. It was so big and so tall that Tokyo's tallest buildings were just like dwarf fungi under a oak and so beautiful that Kayle could not find any words to describe.

Chris told her that many times, he wanted to circle that tower a few laps but fearing the air traffic coordinators would tear him apart so he gave up the idea.

"Will you go back to Okinawa now or stay here for a while?"

"We must return today, Major. Eight or nine o'clock in the morning if nothing new happen. The chooper need maintenance before taking off. "

"There is still enough time for breakfast. Do you wish to join me? "

"Is that an order?" His laugh was like a silver bell.

"It depends" She dipped her shoulder. "But you can temporarily consider it as an invitation. Now let's do a few laps around that thing, I'll take full responsibility. "

"Roger that." Chris and Cooper said in unison.

Screw whatever lied ahead. In the meantime, all Kayle wants was to enjoy the illusory scene in front of her.


	3. Hart I

HART

It rains all week in this mountainous region west of Tokyo. The rain began to fall from Monday, to Thursday it was like a storm, and when people started hoping for a beautiful weekend, the rain had no intention to stop. The western area was flooded, and the engineers had to dig a drains, but when water flowed to the collective dining room they had to destroy it. After a few days of working in the the cold, they all went to the conclusion that the base located in a low-lying area, that there was no use in digging, that praying for the rain to stopl seemed more practical

Colonel Hart Sayer stood on the steps of the officers' quarters, eyes setting on the opposite yard, sucking air through his teeth. It was almost six in the morning and he couldn't see a soul on the nearly three hundred square meter yard, except for the three or four raincoats that hovered near the protective barrier like ghosts. The medical wing insisted that him to postpone the usual training activities because as they told him, letting soldiers exposed themselves in such weather like this had no use except becoming perfect targets for pneumonia. After thirty years of considering the Army as his true and only home, Hart did not like this idea at all, the lack of a trumpet and a sound of boots pounding the ground every morning seemed like a punishment to him.

Rain water shot over the Colonel's uniform as he headed toward to the headquarters. It was an old, gray, two-storey masion which had been derelict long before Hart came here and saw the utility of an apartment with few windows, locating in a remote area, worthy to become temporary headquarters of Task force 22. The soldier standing in the guard post hurriedly saluted him as he passed, another person appeared out of nowhere with an umbrella and accompanied his commander to the door before returning to his position. Hart went inside, took off his jacket and hat then went upstairs. At least the atmosphere inside was a little more comfortable, dry and clean.

The radio operator was still snoring on the sofa, and there was about an hour before the work time so he didn't intend to wake him up. Although he has been in Japan for a while, his biological clock still runs as it did in Southern California, so there are always unoccupied moments during the day. Hart went back and forth around the desk, looked up at the bookshelf, reached his hand for a book before immediately puting it back. He seldom read books nor watch television in the morning but liked to listen to Raido, a habit from childhood with his grandfather in a wooden house in godforsaking place of Arizona, where in the 70s, electricity and television was still consider as "Luxury". Tokyo also has a radio station but there was no English channel and Hart would never understand the gibberish spoken by the locals.

Japan is a mysterious country and its people also had something very strange, foreign to a man who had traveled around the globe like him. At times, he had to question the credibility of his Japanese ally. Do they like or hate America? It's hard to know. In Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan or Yemen it is somewhat simpler, half of the population wants him dead, the rest only expects him to get the hell out of their land.

For a while, the Colonel came up with the idea of probing Japanese attitudes. He dressed in his finest uniform with three silver stars, two purple hearts on the chest before taking the first bus to Tokyo's busiest station and sitting there for hours. Despite hating smoking than most men, Hart made an exception and sucked a pipe in his mouth in order to mimic the image of General Mc Arthur whom he thought had bemcame an unforgetable fingure in the minds of Japanese people. Honestly, he had been expecting for peeks and pouting from this provocation but finally received nothing. They completely ignored him as if he wasn't there and that did not mean they were hostile. Never in his life, the Cononel felt so frustrated and impotent.

As a commander of a Special Forces unit, Hart knew that the battlefield today was not just about running and shooting, it requires him to have a certain understanding of indigenous people and use that knowledge as an advantage, and would be a catastrophe when he couldn't even tell if they are enemies or not . Hart had to admit this was a somewhat of a terrible start when he might coordinate with the Japanese in the upcoming mission though in his whole life he always considered himself an optimist.

The colonel made himself a cup of coffee and sat down behind his desk. The effective way to kill time now was to read the secret documents sent by the CIA, something tha until this very moment, had been proven completely useless. All intelligence on the mysterious Special Region was provided by Japan and they shared them sparingly. After year and a half since Ginza Incident, Hart knew that on the other side of the gate had a multiracial nation called the Saderan Empire .Besides that he had no further information. Last week, he had to make a complaint call to Admiral Flint because they sent him a list of flowers loved by the Saderan people while what he needed was a map and like an attempt to piss him off, every document pages always began with the sentence :

"This is unconfirmed information based on personal observations and unknown sources of indigenous culture . "

" What the hell is this?" He mumbled, " Did they just tell me that I can't believe what I read?"

"That means they don't know anything"

A voice coming from the door .Hart looked up, only to see the tall and thin figure. Many comrades have left him at farewell parties or in coffins but this person was still here.

"Emerson. What make you wake up so early?"

"Cold weather is not good for knee joints. The doctor advice me not to lie down for too long. "Emerson slowly entered the room, his face was as pale as usual. "Can I sit?"

Hart didn't answer, he just simply nod his head and continued his work. After all these years, he still didn't understand why his friend kept keeping those polite gestures in front of him. Perhaps it had something to do with the way they were raised but he still has not found a satisfactory answer yet.

Hart met Emerson at the Braka training camp when he was sent to Afghanistan as an advisor in 1985. Right from the first meeting, he had an aversion to the young man with platinum hair, strong jaw, wearing round-rimmed glasse cause Hart wasn't a part of his class. The West Point arrogrant pricks had a habit of reminding him of his forrty ninner ancestors, so whenever seeing one of their kind, Hart almost wanted to thrown punches until collapse due to exhausted. The Mujahideen that year also recognized the difference between the two, although both wore the same military uniform, serving a same country. While Lieutenant Emerson was as handsome and elegant as a noble, Hart had the rough features of the working class.

But after a few time hearing bullet ripping through the air, seeing the blood of enemies or comrades on the sand, Hart finally discovered that his partner was not as bad as he thought. Emerson Wilkes was a crusader, an sensitive aristocrat and a bitter soldier. It was the dramatic and upper- class herorism of his that made Hart's inner envy slowly faded away, and like a adventurous novel with a happy ending, he decided to befriend Emerson.

Actually, Hart never regret that decision. If it weren't for Emerson and the Wilkes family, he would be far from where he was now. Impulsive nature made Hart always a potential officer but also made it difficult for him to climb higher.

"Is there anything new?" Emerson asked, pointing at the stack of paper that Hart was reading "I came across it. It was as useless as whatever they provided us before. The first two chapters seem to be fine, at least we knows the new world is not barbaric as we thought. The rest only makes your head hurt with the otaku terminology. "

Ota..ku? He had heard this word somewhere before. The annoying thing when learning Japanese was some words were too long to remember while others were just so short that sound confusing.

"Otaku, manga or anime addicts, Japanese have a name for them. Do you remember the gaudy young people wearing weird costume in downtown few moths ago ? Cosplayer, a form of Otaku. "

That was unforgettable. Those cosplayers make Hippie's toe pants and headbands look like a harmless sobbing.

"Coffee?"

Hart hurried over to another matter before Emerson dragged him into boring topics. Today was a overcast and dull day so the Cononel did not like talking about things that easily irritated him.

"Yes, please. It is always a pleasurse to start the day with a cup of Castillo. "

Since he wasn't a connoisseur of coffee, Hart hesitantly let Emerson rub his slender hands around a cup of Bolivian coffee and hope that his old friend didn't notice the difference. Well, no matter what Columbia and Bolivia was still on the same continent.

"I'm afraid there are some bad news." Emerson took a small, grim sip and set the cup down on the table. "It seems we will be responsible for escorting a diplomatic convoy in Special Region if I understand correctly implications that had been thrown out by Washington in the last few months "

Hart knew that the US involvement in the Special Region was only a matter of time. Japan cannot delay it any longer, they have two obvious options: Losing allies or accepting benefits. He was not surprised when they chose the second one, especially when there was plenty people out there who only wanted to see Japanese people eating grass.

"And if you was going to ask how much time we have then it would be much, about a week or two at best."

"Good God." Hart was disappointed. Two weeks couldn't guarantee anything, "How on earth did the Admiral assume that I can come up with a plan in a week when I don't even have a map?"

"Not Admiral." Emerson reminded him "Order directly came from the White House and remember that this is not a military campaign. A Diplomatic Mission, I believe that how it is called. "

" It's the same! "Hart was annoyed "They can call it anything they want but whenever my soldiers step one foot into hostile territory, it is war. "

Nobody wants to hear anything about fighting, invading or dying at the moment, he knew. From Wincosin to New Orleans, people held each other's hands and sing Kumbaya with a lying son of bitch on the stage delivering messages of peace and prosperity. Twenty years and three wars, the United States was too tired to be dragged into another conflict and any flag draped coffin sent back home just mean more people want to burn down the White House for the second time.

But that's not exactly what makes Hart worry. Complex tasks was what special forces created for. All soldiers in the unit were seasoned men and fought with him in Iraq. They have conducted much more difficult mission with low casualties.

"The problem is…" Emerson gently adjusted his glasses, and as usual Hart knew he was going to hear something very bad. "The Japanese only allowed a delegation of thirty people in the Special Region, no more and no less and the President has agreed to that . "

_They want__ed__ to kill themselves._ Hart just wanted to scream out loud. Ambassador's staff alone consist at least more than twenty people, and if they were allowed to send thirty then he only had six or five men to do the security job . It would be a disaster if they were attacked. With no air support and backup, thirty men would be fishes in the barrel . He had no doubt in abilities of the men he personally trained but sending half of a squad out there was a vauge effort, a suicidal one to be precise. He hoped someone had told the President how unreasonable this plan was.

"Politically speaking, I think they would like the idea." Emerson seemed to read Hart's thoughts. "Russia and China will scream if American troops rush to the District, a group of thirty people is more acceptable."

"Acceptable?" Hart quipped, "If thirty corpse are considered acceptable then I have nothing to say.

Lieutenant Colonel have nothing to respond to that, just sighed and enjoyed a cup of coffee. Just like him, Emerson understood the risks in this mission, but what else could be done now except pick out the best among their men and pray?

At 8 am, the delegation list finally came in fax. The secretary brought it to Hart with a copy. He was somewhat relieved when there were only twenty-two names on paper, which meant he would have eight seasoned combatants on the field. Honestly, Hart prefered the number twelve, at least he had enough troops to divide them into two teams: Shields and Spears. Team Shield is responsible for protecting and evacuating the non-combatants when attacked and the spear team would destroy the enemy or at least restrain them.

"Ambassador Dominic Hobson. Do you know him, Emerson? "

Hart is not a big type of communication. Parties, small talk and handshakes made him uncomfortable. They, the elite of American society talk too much, laugh too much and there was nothing good came from these people except the nosy. During the wedding at the Wilkes family manor in the spring of last year, he had to create a dramatic story about the alcoholic father and the mother he never knew to please Lady Tunner. Apparently Hart was not very good at this and the suspicious look on the face of the beautiful woman forced him to ask Emerson to testify his story.

"Not much, I only met him a few times. A former ambassador to Rome, fluent in Latin, French and Italian. A man who loves collecting Roman-Greek antiques "

At least they choose the right man for the job, Hart thought. He assured Dominic to jump up when he heard he was chosen.

"Let's see, Ruth Chapman secretary, Diana Sobler linguist, and Adu Aman Farris" Emerson grinned. "Anti-racism is a trend."

Hart had nothing against the people from the middle east but to anyone who ever witnessing the Sunni translator blowing up R & R's representative office in Bagdad also said it was a bad idea. The boredom continues with Frank Charlerson, agricultural engineer, Eddy Louge, construction engineer and ... Kayle Wilson, Major… US army.

"Ronald Wilson's daughter," Emerson said. "I think you know him."

Of course, Hart knew. Ronald Wilson was one of commanders in Desert Strom, who nominated him to be commander of 1st ranger battalion after the war. As far as he knew, Ron was about to have a chair in the security advisory council. He was indeed an ambitious one. Speaking of that old man, Hart was a little startled by the prospect that he would get the full consequences if the Lieutenant General's precious daughter broke a nail.

"I think you must be glad ? Kayle Wilson is an experienced."

"Experienced? What do I need from an girl that make coffee better than you? Damn, it would trade her for two more box of 50 cal"

Emerson smirked and swore to God, Hart hated whenever he did that. It made him look like an idiot.

"Major Kayle Wilson has been in Iraq for five years." Emerson said "Two tours to Afghanistan, an urban warfare expert and anti guerrilla."

Finally, there is an interesting thing to start the day. Hart did not hesitate to check the files on his computer and wondered why Kayle Wilson wasn't under his radar for the past few years. Anyone with two silver star medals is easily noticed by Task Force 22.

Spectre!

Hart grimaced when he saw the name. It was a waste of real talent. He did not expect that General Ronald to risk his daughter's career with these thugs. Honestly, Spectre at first had proved it's usefulness and no one expected things end up like that

"Why the hell is she here for? Didn't they dissolve the unit?" Hart asked. Spectre had no longer existed on the papers since the day the CIA took over, so it was hard to know. "They should have done that right after the little facility of their nearly got exposed by some random reporters. It was just too risky to continute and "Bloody Thurday" was what you get for playing with fire for too long."

"The arrogance got the better of them and I doubt that they would gave up on Spectre easily even after those hearings and investigation"

Emerson long suspected that the CIA had formed a few paramilitary teams from whatever remained of Spectre to avoid wasting resources. But if this speculation was true then something was wrong here . The White House obviously could ask CIA to undertake this task without counseling the Army. Espionage and diplomacy had been hand in hand since the begin of time

Maybe the president just had enough of Langley and placed his trust in real soldiers? Hart hoped that was the case. After the catastrophy such as the Weapons of Mass Destruction, the White House might finally open its eyes to the fact that the infamous Intelligence Agency wasn't as reliable as it was supposed to be.

He had a bad impression of the CIA and its shady practices right from the first days in Iraq. Many times, his men had crawl through mud and blood to secure empty ammunition depots, dusty technical complexes which was supposed to be where Sadam hid nuclear progarms. The CIA lost it's reputation in Iraq but his men lost more things than the reputation that they never wanted.

"I don't want to spoil your excitement but you need to be cautious" Emerson said. "There was something very weird about this mission. "

_It was even weirder hearing those words coming from you _"We'll talk about this later. Now, gather all team leaders for me , I want to have a meeting in twenty minutes. We have a lot to do. "

Emerson stood up and left the room, but before he put his hand on the door knob, he turned to ask Hart:

"Should I contact Kayle Wilson?"

"Do whatever you consider necessary,"

Emerson nodded, saluted him then quickly vanished like smoke.

"Someday I will have word with him about this. Definitely "


	4. Kayle II

Shinbafu Airport , 20 km from Tokyo

Breakfast here only consist of mashed potatoes, baccon and cheese. A long line of frustrating men stood impaitently, waiting for their turn. The cook's hand used the big-ass spoon to scoop the food into the tray then shouted :

"Next. "

And with every single time he shout, the line quietly moved forward, just like production lines in the factory. Somewhere. She heard a sigh of disappointment from the back of the queue, in the creaking of boots that clung to the gleaming ceramic tiles and the chaotic sound of two hundred mouths trying to sallow their terrible breakfast.

Kayle stood between Chris and Cooper. The pilot was a fat man with a clean shaved head in baggy flying suit. Cooper was also very tall, but at the age of twenty-eight, his bustling chest always made her cheeks blush when looking at it. The Air Force's standard height must have been different from the ground forces because she looked like a dwarf among these men.

The four quickly recieve their meals and took the table at the corner of the wall, next to the window, below the great American flag.

"You should complain about the food here!"

Kayle instantly scowled after putting a spoon of mashed potato into her mouth. It was cold and she also tasted the preservative.

"That's the last thing we want to do." The fat lieutenant said.

At the surprised look of the young major, Chris slowly explained that the place they were sitting in was not owned by the US military. Twenty years ago, a Japanese investor had poured a ton of money to build an airport, hoping to sell it to another investor and earn some more money.

"An economic crisis. The house bubble burst so bad in the early 90s and nearly destroyed Japanese stock market . Do you remember that Major?"

"How could i?" Kayle shook her head. "I was only four or five at the time."

"A lot of people went bankrupt because of it. The unlucky investor finally found himself hanging on a tree, leaving a huge debt to the poor wife."

"And because the bank couldn't find a buyer for the airport so it was abandoned since then, right?"

Her farther had told her about a similar case before. A man by the name of James Mulligan tried to sell his farm to General Wilson to pay the debt of the bank, but her father shook his head in disagreement. He said the land was too barren, had no natural clean water and that price was too expensive for a farm too far from the nearest town. James ulligan committed suicide four months later, letting ten square kilometers of land purchased with an unbelievably cheap price in Kayle's inheritance.

"Not really." Chris pointed his fork at her. "It was never abandoned."

Not that again. Kayle wouldn't be surprised if Uncle Sam's hand was embedded here. Many Americans found it unfair that the United States often got blamed by everyone for everything, but there was a reason for it. You couldnt make people less suspicious of you by continuing to do shady shit like Spectre or this and hoping not to be get caught.

"Yes, that's right." Chris nodded. "Not many people know about this and I just accidentally figured it out a few months ago. Cooper here discovered a strange black paint stain in the hangar. It wasn't normal paint, Radar absorbing paint no doubt. Stealth aircrafts had been here for a very long time before this place offically became U.S air base. Cooper was trained as a maintenance worker for the F-117 before being my co-pilot, so it was impossible for him to mistake such thing. They must repaint the outer shell after a few mission or the anti- radar capability would be reduced greatly "

This means that reconnaissance squadrons of F-117 and BlackBird have gone in gone out Russia or China from here all these years undetected. It would be diplomatic turmoil if this story was leak out to the public and it also explained why they got this shitty potato on the plate.

According to Cooper, The Japanese government was afraid of getting axed by public opinion and the press for helping America spy on neighboring countries but unfortunately, they had no legal and secret ways to kick their lovely ally out of Shibafu for good and that how the ludicrous concept called flying limit was born. Each day, the base was only allowed to receive up at best ten aircrafts, regardless of whether it is jets, cargo planes or choopers. With such a bizarre limit, maintaining daily activities became so difficult that eating was no longer main priority in the mind base commanders.

"It must be said that they've almost succeeded their goal . The United States was so tired of this foxy move and began to withdraw some squadrons to the states but suddenly, that crazy gate suddenly appeared in the center of Tokyo."

"How much do you think the press will pay to get the information, I wonder?" Chris gleefully told Cooper "A nice story like this don't pop up often so it shouldn't be cheap" .

" And I think you should give up that idea right now!" Kayle shook her head. "They will throw you and the newspaper in a hole then throw the hole away."

An entity capable of pulling down a whole country wouldnt mind crushing some random individuals like Chris, Harvey or Cooper to the as bugs and they would do that in the literal way if that was the case. She sincerely hoped he was just joking. An innocuous idea

"Don't worry, Major. I have been in the military for almost ten years." Chris brushed into laugh. " And the lesson I learned from all those year is never test your luck with Uncle Sam."

They continue to eat and chat. The rain had no sign of stopping, and the pilots had to keep their feet on the ground until they could see the sun behind those grim dark clouds. The Black Hawk was not damaged much after the previous incident, Chris was sure of it because if it had been, they wouldn't have been able to sit here.

"After things like that, I just want to quit this damn job" Said Chris. The old fat man sadly crossed his arms "Go home, fix the fence, find something safe and less stressful to do for living, good food and hot tub."

"Don't be pessimistic, Lieutenant." Cooper said. "You have four more months while our enemy now are seagulls. How about you, Harvey? As I remember, you just signed up last summer"

"Two year and four months." The young man answer with a grin "No reason to talk about the future right now but I don't think I will quit the air force soon!"

They did not mention Kayle's plans for her future because it would not be unusual for those who climb to the rank of Major choosing to bind their life to the army. Sometimes she missed her civilian life but her memories of it were sporadic and messy and whenever Kayle tried to remember them, she found herself playing a jigsaw puzzle. Recently, she couldn't even remember Anne's middle name even though they were best friends for thirteen years. It was only eight years but somehow it feel like a century had passed in front of her eyes, like that girls who cried over Dylan invited Jess to the prom instance of her was gone forever.

Kayle was afraid that she might have PTSD for being in combat that long, but it was unlikely so because in every routine health check, doctors always diagnose her physiological health couldnt be better and they even told Kayle to keep an eye on the soldiers under her command in case someone started to have unusual behaviors.

"When will we be deloyed, Major?" Havey suddenly said " I'm tired of waiting."

"Deloyed?" Kayle confused by the question.

"What he mean was when will we break through that gate and blow some shit up" Cooper said in a bored voice. "It was so painful to hear he chewed it over and over again for months."

"Honestly, I don't know." Kayle dipped her shoulder and shook her head. "I just arrived in Okinawa a few weeks ago and they called me and told me to show up here. That's all."

"That's suck. I thought you would have more info than us." Havey looked disappointed. "We have to hurry up, otherwise there's no fun left. I hear they said that JSDF has already killed hundred thousand of those bastards and at this rate, we will have nothing to do . "

She didn't understand what was inspiring Havey like it had been urging her to go out there and get slaughtered like cattle. The first days on the front as if it was some grand holiday, young men in the most beautiful moment of their life marched to the battle with flowers on the barrel, leaving behind lovers with teary eyes, crying if they unfortunately fell to enemy's guns. That beautiful image was crushed by mortar shells and swept away by the hot desert wind, leaving only tired souls covered in dust and blood.

War burned everything on its path, and worst of all, it poisoned people. Those who have lived on the front would never be the same. They can still there in front of us but something in them had forever gone. After seeing bad things happen to so many people, Kayle didn't know how to answer Havey properly. Should she tell the truth or encourage his enthusiasm because an officer's responsibility force her to do so?

"Enough already, Harvey. Don't bother the Major" Exasperated the big fat lieutenant "We are soldiers, when they tell us to fight, we fight. When they tell we die, we die. Why do you keep minding on something that you have no control of?"

"But I just ..."

"This is the last time I warn you"

Chris slammed one hand down on the table, his face was as red as a tomato. The puffiness under his eyes vibrated. This was probably the first time she saw Chris looked like Havey's superior a little bit because from the time she was on the chooper, he looked like a good drunken old man that love playing Santa to raise money for the children in the orphanage when the snow began to fall down on old ash-gray neighborhoods of Brooklyn (She thought he was a New Yorker due to the accent) rather than a Lieutenant of U.S Air Force.

"Go get some coffee."

Chris whipped the young man's ass with an order. Frightened and confused, Havey immediately got up and ran to the cafeteria at the corner of the room. Kayle did not know if Chris did it intentionally or not but he had just saved her from a awkward situation.

"Forgive Harvey, Major. He's a good guy but doesn't know when to shut his mouth."

She felt a little sympathy in his voice.

"I don't mind it." Kayle smiled except "I wasnt smarter than him at that age either."

"Who doesn't have a naive time? I joined the Air Force after watching Top Gun. Is it hard to resist the prospect of flying in the sky and wearing a leather jacket? What about you?"

"Family."

"Ah. It is the best reason and sometimes the most silly one."

Not ! It was she who screwed everything up and pushed herself into the current situation. If that day as if she was not stubborn, it would be different.

"Can I ask you a question, Major? You don't have to answer but I… ."

"I will answer."

Kayle did not want to hide anything from this man . Lies in the name of the country and the unit made her too tired. Every time someone in the team killed in action, Kayle had to brainstorm a heroic story for their relatives back home. How could she tell a ten-year-old boy that his father was like Al Capone's goons in many people's eyes and he was killed by a bomb under the carpet. The explosion was so horrible that they had to scoop up the rubble just to find some scorched body pieces.

"Do you know what's going on, Major? Havey may ask because of curiosity, or because the hot blood in his veins drives him to do so but I'm different." Suddenly his voice was choked with discomfort "I have a wife and two kids. For me, it's very important."

While in Iraq, Kayle wondered how the people at home would react if she finally meet her fate. Mom and Louie would probably cry a lot, while her father would not a drop a single tear, at least in front of others. Kayle did not remember why but when she shared this story with the Commander, he immediately scolded her.

"Honestly, I don't know anything more than you do but you are well aware of who I am, where I come from so there was little of chance they definitely drag me from Okinawa to this place to attend some random conferences with the Japanese "

_Is almost two-thirds of the truth considered as the truth? _Since Kayle was still not sure what the Gate had to do with this unusual order, she didn't think she said she was lying to him.

"Just like I thought," Chris sighed. "Hopefully there will be no crazy shit happen in the next few months."

They put the topic aside when Havey returned with four cups of coffee. The taste is not bad compared to breakfast. Before entering the army, Kayle remembered that she did not have a habit of drinking coffee. Women of higher class often used tea or juice for the morning while coffee was inherently reserved for men. The war overturned all old habits, and her mother would be terrified to find out her daughter eating turkeys without using single knife or fork.

An F-16 is landing on the runway. The sound from the engine was like thousands of pieces of metal rushing straight ahead at superhuman speed. In a November rainy and windy day, it looked like a speedboat with long water splashes splashing behind its back.

"Look at it." Cooper plucked his tongue. "You know? I'll trade everything to sit in it's cockpit once."

The F-16 Falcon, the symbol of America's authority for three decades, a weapon designed to counter the Mioviet's Migs in the cold war. Although plenty of sophisticated types of fighter which fly faster and farther was currently in service , the Air Force had no intention to let these relics retired, especially when the defense budget was severely reduced. Kayle is quite familiar with this mare because they often air support for her team in Iraq although she rarely saw them at close range.

However, Kayle was also shocked and when she saw that the fuselage was covered by strange naval blue color with a circle as red as blood under the cockpit. The limited knowledge of aviation didn't make her forget how standard camouflage of the United States Air Force looked like.

"Japanese?"

"That's right! They are fighter of JSDF." Chris replied "And look! There are more to come."

Three other fighters landed on the second runway one after another. From nowhere, four yellow raincoats came out with beacons in their hands, guiding them into the garage.

"I thought you had a flying limit."

"The law only applies to us and not to them. Uncle Sam gives a lot of favor to the Japanese."

Many times the United States had to step dowm to get what they want, but this is not precedent. Even the UK, the closest ally, is unlikely to receive the same privilege as Japan. That Gate must have a tremendous attraction to the U.S.

"I don't like these guys." Havey sniffs. "You have no idea how disgusting they are. Remember Phil? The guy stations at the post near by the shore? He swore that he saw fishermen eating the fish that just got caught in the net. Unbelievable, they were eating a raw fish. The concept of putting food in a pot doesn't seem to exist in this country. "

"It's called Sushi, idiot." Cooper desperately facepalms. "Don't tell me you didn't read the instruction manual."

"The only book Harvey ever touches is Playboy." Chris laughed loudly and patted his shoulder. "I tell you, kids nowaday don't know what reading is anymore. Letting them snicking their nose into Iphone and iPad for ten more years and I bet my grandchildren will be asking me 'what is your books'. Well, put that aside, Harvey do makes some sense, there is a lot of weird shits in this country. "

Kayle's knowledge of Japan was probably no better than these three but it didn't bother her that much. These days, there wasn't many thing worth to bother unless it meant to kill her. Kayle remembers there was a day when she was thirteen or fourteen, a man from the land of the rising sun came to visit her family in Vigirnia. That was the peak of summer but during the whole morning, the Japanese didn't once take off his jacket or loosen the tie on his neck. General Ronald decided to take the guest on a tour around his estate, a thing her father would do every time as if telling people what great grandfather Tom Wilson had done to build such a massive fortune was extremely important.

For a person who was only five feet five (1,65m )tall, catching up with the Lieutenant General's long paces was real torment. Poor Japanese could hardly breathe while her father was so into the battle of Gettyburg and did not realize that his audience who was about to faint.

"You should took off your jacket, sir" she remembered Louie saying that, that year, he was just seventeen, young and elegant and thin like a tree. "It's so hot."

The man smiled, bowed his head and replied that he was fine. Louie felt a bit confused and both of them couldn't stop wondering why he treated Louie with the same respect he did to their father.

"You should listen to what the boy said" Lieutenant General Ron now returns to reality "A dying man look better than you."

And the process of smiling, bending and thanking was repeated. Seeing that, the General snort :

"For those who turn themselves into living missiles, you're somewhat polite. I wonder if Kamikaze did bow when they sank the ?"

"If the cockpit was large enough, I think it might be possible." Answer the Japanese.

And then both of them laughed like mad men, leaving Kayle stood there and didn't understand how that was funny joke.

_"Major Wilson, please come to gate 3, Major Wilson please come to gate number 3"_

The speaker repeated the message two more times before going silent. All four looked at each other for a few second and said nothing. Eventually Kayle realized she should be the one who break that silence.

"I think it's time to say goodbye" she lazily stood up "Thank you guys for the breakfast. Good luck"

"Good luck, Major" Chris shaked her hand, his was as rough as hand of manual worker "You need it more than i do."

_You need it more than I do_?

That was what he had told her , but she had deliberately forgotten them. The deaths were like shadow in the infinite mist of war and nothing was good when you got too close with them because that same person also constantly reminded her :

_You really don't __want to join them, my dear Wilson._

Kayle suddenly felt a shiver across her spine. This feeling was the same as when she killed the first enemy in her life. Everything around her looked like a slow-motion film and she could hear her breathing. Though it was only a brief moment before the gunshot got her back to reality, Kayle knew it was real and more real than the people sitting here.

Something touched her, warm and soft. Kayle looked up in surprise and saw Cooper's hand resting on her shoulder.

"Are you ok, Major ? There is something wrong?"

"I'm alright." Kayle shook her head " Nothing to be worried about. Thank you."

Cooper showed no sign of trust but asked nothing more.

"Where is gate 3?"

"This way." Chris pointed to the dining room door. "Go straight down this hallway and turn right to the base headquarters then you will see asignpost. Turn right again and head to the central station."

"Goodbye, Major" Havey said "We'll meet again"

"Yes ..." Kayle hesitated "Goodbye."

Couldn't image that simple word was that hard to say.

Interesting thing was this wasnt the first time she said goodbye. Fisher, Carrick and many others, Kayle had said goodbye in front of their grave. She knew them for years while only meeting Chris, Cooper and Harvey in three hours. But Kayle suddenly realized that she didn't know anything about Fisher or Carrick except their names. War turned them into cold and ruthless machines, ready to destroy anything in the way. Affection always affected the mission, so it was no wonder that the conversations between Spectre members became less and less. These three people were different. They ate, they drank and they breathe.

At the end of the boardroom, there was a sign "Gate # 3, this way" so Kayle was quite reassured that she was not lost. It only took a few minutes for her to find herself standing in the vast space of the main station. The army could only use the secondary station because the central station was a huge building with two arches in the shape of brid wings that welcomed natural sunlight through cleverly designed windows.

"What a pity" Kayle regretfully bit her lip as she looked at the sleazy walls, grass growing from the cracks on the floor. "It would habe been beautiful place if it had been reopened."

Due to being abandoned for quite a long time, the area brought alongs with it a characteristic chilling atmosphere. The rusty bars above screeched when the wind blew through, broken glass and rubbish were everywhere, and there were even more creepy graffiti-like paintings appearing in the hallway. The scene looked like a horror movie with her was the main character-victim. Though Kayle was not a coward, her mind did not stop thinking that Jason Voorhees was hiding behind some blind spot, just waiting for her to walk by then swing his long machate. Unlike the precious brother Louie, she fainted right on the chair when Jason bathed himself in his first victim's blood.

Kayle reach her hand to where the holster was and noticed two things. First, she did not carry a firearm. Second, she almost did not carry any type of weapons including daggers since the day Spectre dissolved.

"If I have a Glock, then ten Jason will just be a piece of cake." Kayle mumbled "But everything after the world if is usually bullshit ..."

Having no choices, Kayle had to run away from this place as quickly as possible. And while trying to run really fast, the puddle of rain defeated her. Water splashes on the neck and chest, cold like frozen hell.

"Godamn it "

Kayle exclaimed but she refused to stop until she reached the guard MP saluted her but couldn't help grinning. His whole life seemed to never witnessed an officer appearing in a sleazy, breathless appearance like this. Kayle ignored his mocking attitude and handed him a transfer paper alongside with her military ID.

"There is a car waiting for you over there, Major" He said with a playful tone "Have a nice day."

It would be a nice day if Kayle gave him a punch in the face but now was not the time. The superior is waiting for her. It could be Colonel Hart Sayer whose nickname was "Poker" because of the mission he took always had the risk of a poker game. Or it could be the Eastern Asian Branch of the CIA, where most former Spectre members went to after leaving Iraq. They would give Kayle a team of the toughest son of bitches to undertake missions that the government would deny their existence.

I_t may be North Korea this time or China, _She thought._ Could be bad but at least it wasn't Hindu Kush_

However, Kayle did not anticipate that they would send a man in a suit to pick her up on a Nissan as black as his jacket. Unlike what decribed in movies, the CIA agent never wear a suit and it was certainly not military uniform either.

"Major Wilson, I'm Patrick Hammer, US embassy agent in Japan." He proudly introduced himself, " But you can also call me Patt."

After that, all Kayle could remembered was she had got into the car and the scent of weird perfumes from the guy named Patrick Hammer or Patt.


	5. Pina I

The Capital of Sadera

The Holy hill of Vinusa

The holy temple was crowded with people. A group of White hood monks from Avanul hill had arrived in the early of the morning with three carriage and a huge hairy creature look like elephant. The Follower of Great Father came from yesterday and soon all priests, deacons, sharmans from large and small temples throughout the territory of the empire would be presented here. They came to show their loyalty to the royal family and to pray. Praying for what Pina wasnt so sure but she knows quite a lot of people would be glad if tomorrow Gods above let her father rejoin his ancestors.

Emperor Molt Son Augustus wasn't so beloved. This was well known.

"We will be here and pray until our beloved emperor awake" a fat monk firmly said to apostles. "Now is the time for he who need us most."

"We understand, elder brother" the apostles in unison.

"Now, my brothers, please light the best incense of Vizima up." He pointed to a person in the group "Julius, did you bring the kind of incense that I told you?"

"Yes, Elder Brother. In that cart downhill" the man named Julius replied with a nod.

"In a cart? What are you doing, Julius? What ritual doesnt start with incense.? Sacrifice, rain ceremony, exorcism and blessing. All of them do need incense and now you tells me that you have forgotten it in a stupid cart in the middle of praying eremony for the venerable emperor. "

the angry monk took up his baggy sleeve and wiped away the sweat from his face covered with puffiness as red as tomatoes. Today was a hot day. On the way to the Temple, Pina saw city dwellers encircling public fountain and when the pool was too crowded, they immediately headed to the river bank. The women and men seemed not to have dignity anymore, they took off their clothes and immersed themselves in cool blue water of mother. With the position of a princess, the third person on the inheritance list, Pina should have stopped this corrupt act but, well, it would be far better for them to be able to run around naked than gathering in the square and throwing stones at the City Watch.

"Elder Brother, I have not forgotten. At the gate of the city, because you told everyone to perform the walk of redemption so no one could bring the box along."

"So why you don't ask the driver, or someone else? Whoever dares to refuse those carrying out the mission of the gods on this world?"

"I ... didn't think about it, so i ..." The brother faltered. The hood made Pina couldn't see the face of his face, but it was clear that he had a broken nose. "I think I would still be time to…"

"Then why are still you standing there for?"

After the guy Julius left, there was another mess. The White Hoods of Avanul didn't want to sit close to the Hardy followers of Esraling, whom in the eyes of the congregation were all fanatics promoting self-destruction. A group of priests came from small monasteries of Romalia Mountain screamed out that they were being treated unfairly because they had to sit at the back while being the first arrived.

Like the Emperor Molt or Zorzal, she was not a devout type. The religious folks talked too much about the mystery of faith, and that was it. Honestly, she saw magicians and wizards being ten thousand times more useful than them. Diabo was completely different, always appearing to be a pious but Pina knew her brother was just acting.

_Diabo is ready to kiss the feet of any priest as long as they stand on his side in __the __desperate fight to win the throne._

Diabo's ambition raises doubts at the senate. Her brother is the mastermind behind this tragedy. The emperor was poisoned, they whispered to each other's ears in the white stoned hallway of the senate but healers and physician had already swore on their mother's lives that it was just a common disease for people over sixty.

Even Pina herself couldn't believe her father was asassinated. She ordered men to check the wine pot used in the party, every single dish of food and those who cook them were also targeted. Immediately, the Royal Guard had tortured thirty-eight people, ripped open the kitchen and made a list of one hundred suspects but still hadn't found anything yet. Now there is a theory that the perpetrator is an outsider and he uses the secret passage behind the castle walls to escape, therefore for the past three days, the sound of the shovel and sledgehammers had been echoing throughout Palace from the sunrise to sunset. By the fourth day, Pina shut down this these fools before they teared her house apart.

Diabo couldnt be the one did this. Pina believed he had no gut to kill her father and, above all, he had no reason to do so. The one that Diabo wanted to eliminate was Zorzal and Zorzal was sitting legally on the throne as a regent after the Emperor suddenly becomes ill. Diabo was the bright one among them three and doing something so useless like this was definitely not his style. If she was him, Zorzal would be as good as dead right now.

But whoever did this wasn't as important as the fact that the image and face of the royal family in the public eye have been seriously damaged. It was a bad thing for a royal member to attempt to assassinate another royal member, even if it was only rumors that people whispered to each other in the narrow, smoky alleys of Sadera. Soon, commodity prices would skyrocket and when people started saying words like "Civil War" "Overthrow" or "Siege" then it was probably too late to lauch any countermeasure

It took her a lot of effort to chase aways the rumor. The first is to try to convince Zorzal to make an official announcement to the people that the great Molt Son Augustus Emperor unfortunately became seriously ill and the royal family would hold a great ceremony to pray for his recover. At first, her brother did not agree, but after hearing her implying that if he did not deal with this baseless suspicion soon then it was only a matter of time before the people pointed their fingers at the dynastic prince, Regent Zorzal immidiately changed his mind. As for the youngest brother, Pina is not worried. Diabo was clever enough to know what to do and how to do in time like these.

"Princess, the Crowned prince has yet to come." Gray, the old knight and the loyal retainer quitely whispered to her. They were standing behind one of ten great pillars of the 600 year old temple, seperated from loudsy crowd at the hall but Confidentiality and privacy must always be given priority "Neither has the Prince"

Pina rolled her eyes and looked around, it was true that her brother was nowhere to be found. She did not expect Zorzal to appear, kicking out her father's confidants and the partying all night long consumed quite lot of time. But what about Diabo? He must have been here now.

"When will the ritual begin?"

"Soon, my Princess" Gray replied, "The High Priests are on their way here and the last representative of the senate has arrived hour ago so I think they will do it before noon. Nno doubt, who on earth could tolerate such a heat?"

Representatives of the senate consisted of people who were still holding top positions of the gorvernment a month ago but now they had returned to nothing but the empty shells of themselves. Pina knows most of their names. Mr. Done Collina, the commander of 6th Legion, Fergus Hayde, the head of treasury, Count Mathias El Deconte, the war secretary and a few more dozen dignitaries; The list would be longer in the coming months. The latest victim is Boros, the commander in chief of the Royal Guards. He refused to mobilize soldiers unless there was orders came directly from Emperor Molt Son Augustus. Zorzal personally went to meet the stubborn old general, and after a few words, Boros was sent straight to the front line of the Niflheim border.

"Gray, please call Bozes or Panache here."

The old knight nodded respectfully then left.

Pina poured herself a glass of liquor from the pot she found nearby then drank it. The sweet posture makes her feel comfortable, while the head was a little lighter than it used to be. She wished she could return to the palace right now , soak herself in hot water, letting the wine carry her to sleep and stay away from these superstitious and noisy people. When the Emperor fell ill, Pina cried till her tear dried out. She cried because the person lying there on the bed was her father and for the dark future of the empire, which she vowed to serve.

Even the most foolish person in Falmart knows well that her brother is not like his father at all. The Molt emperor was ambitious and ruthless but did not waste his life while Zorzal was impatient, thoughtless and violent. The conquest of the northeastern plain three years ago is a good example of how Zorzal rule would look like. Twenty thousand soldiers were killed, hundreds of thousands of thalet had been thrown into the river just for a poor and arid land with a prestigious female slave named Tyuule, Zorzal's favorite pet.

Zorzal would declare a war, she knows it. But on who?

The Japanese was the answer that Pina doesn't want to think about. They would crush the empire under their heels like a bug. From what she had heard and seen from Alnus to Italica, she knew this war would end before it started. The empire has stepped on the tail of Chimera and only due to luck or the mysterious kindness of the monster, the golden eagle flag was still flying.

Niflheim didn't help Pina better either. The archenemy of Saderan Empire had more than one hundred and fifty thousand well-trained, well-paid troops, a considerable number of magi, Wizards and shamans. Zorzal would have to pay a pretty expensive price to declare war on them.

Too much troubles. Most of them she couldn't solve and with each days passed, they just got worse.

"I have to talk to Itami or Sugawara-san about this. Only they can help me."

But where Itami was nowhere to be found while Sugawara-sensei disappeared in the puff of smoke after the fateful party. Pina was now alone in the storm and she was lost. Nothing could warm her heart better except for this fermented apple-flavored wine. After drinking a few more glasses, she began to feel a little dizzy, her mouth was bitter.

"Princess, I didn't expect you to be fond of ."

A voice came from behind her. Pina turned around to see an gray hair elderly man in bright Toga.

"Lord Ducan, it was amazing when you came here. Don't tell me that Zorzal had fired you."

"No, no, princess." Ducan shook his head and a bitter smile was on his lip. "Ten years of fighting, fifteen years of trying to stay neutral in the senate house have helped me a lot. Life is full of unexpects don't you think? None could expect that the man who always questioned your father's decisions to keep his seat while men like Mathias El Deconte was about to be out of the game soon. "

"Did you receive this privilege for not being loyal to the emperor?" Said Pina but her voice was grumpy as if it was an accusation. Wine had made her a little more mouthful than usual " And to be honest, I also did not expect that you are power hungry type of person, Ducan."

"I'm loyal," he said with a puzzled smile as he sat down next to her. "But the problem is that my loyalty doesnt belong to the emperor or the prince. I think you are well aware whom it belongs to, Am I right, your Highness ? "

"I don't have time to play puzzles, Ducan." She frowned, "What do you come here for?"

"Can I have cup of wine before we start?" Ducan said "Talking is a thirsty job."

Pina motioned for the maid to bring a bottle of wine and a cup. The gray hair man drank it like water, some drops still clinging to his beard.

"I'm never fond of this kind of liquor since I was a yound man neither do I now. Nothing impressive about the taste but it do have it use, especially in case like this" The Senator stared into the empty cup "Where to start from? Ah, the empire is in grave danger."

Is the empire in grave danger? Impossible. For thousands of years, since Emperor Aurelius Antoninus set the first stone, the Empire had endure countless disasters caused by both Gods and men but still stands firm and proud despite all of them. It turned savage tribes and bloodthirsty gods into captions in history books, subjugated the stubborn states in Viziman and West of Romalia, repelled the Niflheim armies to the islands where they came from. Such a huge force cannot collapse,

"You must be thinking that what I'm saying that is wrong? That this empire is so great that it can't be defeated"

_Damn, he was reading my mind._ Pina has long heard that Ducan wasn't naïve or an amateur to power struggles in Sadera although he didn't participate in politics as much as other nobles and senators.

"You are a smart, Princess and sometime I have feeling that you are Lorenthar reborn. You had long realized this hurtful truth long time ago but you are just too persistent to admit."

Getting ambused by him so easily, Pina didn't know how to respond properly. With a fox like Ducan, lying was useless.

"I'm not blind, Ducan." She gave him a razor-sharp look. "But what does that have to do with you?"

"Look at these people." The smile on Ducan's grim face disappeared and replaced it was the serious, austere expression of an experienced man "An old bunch of fools surrounded by superstitious con- artist, and out there, the city is on fire both literally and metaphorically. And who is responsible for the situation? "

Zorzal is the first name that Pina thinks of. Her brother was the one who caused chaos in the senate, ordered a blockade of the capital city, causing the price of bread and salt to increase fivefold, and only Gods knew what would happen next. Her father should take the blame too, vassals began to plot against the empire due to crushing defeat at Alnus and the fact that her beloved father sending 100,000 Coalition soldier to their deaths on purpose.

"Such dangerous words should not be spoken, Ducan" Pina pretended to be indifferent "Zorzal never liked being condemned by others. "

"Princess must have misunderstood me. I just want to say that the responsibility belongs to all of us whether you are princess, prince, commoner, Elves or dwarf. As long as you are Empire's subjects, you have a responsiblity to ensure its existence. The empire who sees everyday is not owned by Emperor Molt or Prince Zozral but everyone. Why? It was the Tranvian senator and the craftsmen who built this great temple, and Felon was the first writer of the civil law, and ten years before I was born, Field Marshal Marius and the people of Sachen had scarified their lives to hold the Danto Pass before the invaders from the East. The glory of the empire is made up of the blood and sweat of those people. "

Pina smirked "If you need blood and sweat that much then Zorzal is a great emperor. Sweat may be a little less to your expectation but blood would not be lacking."

"And that will be the blood of the people I faithfully serve. Soldiers, farmers, masons, blacksmiths, miners, mothers and children."

"And what do you want me to do, Ducan? Sneaks into the palace and stabs my sibling on his back or you want me to ask my knights to do it for me?" Pina snapped. She was getting tired of playing game with him. "Don't ever mention this again, I warned you."

Zorzal might be a insufferable cunt but he was still her brother. The thought of betraying him disgusted her. Pina wondered how many of these plots had been made since her father acceding the throne. The Senate had already overthrown three emperors and killed one. Jeneasy the Madness collapsed at the breakfast table with a long tear in her throat, put the end to most fifteen chaotic years in history. She would rather die than letting Zorzal become the second one.

"Violence is not what we want." Ducan slowly stood up. "A regime forms on swords sooner or later would ends by swords."

"We?"

_So he had already had supporters_. Pina felt a little chill on her spine. Ducan did not just talk.

"Those who are loyal to the empire and its people, dear princess" The elder smiled "Those who worry about the future."

Before Ducan turned around to leave the temple, Pina asked him the final question:

"Are you not afraid of me talking to my brother, Ducan? Just one word, your head and your friends will be on the spikes watching sun set on the Romalian. "

" I will not come here without a guarantee "Ducan replied," Princess wont do such things because I know the you and I are on the same front. "

With that, he immersed himself in the crowd and disappeared by the time the High Priests entering the temple.

* * *

The ceremony was the same as many ceremonies she had attended before except this time it took the priests for a while to decide who would have the honnor to cut the poor goat's neck. In the end, an old and shaking man named Adrianus was assigned to this responsibility. Pina had to laugh when for some unknown reason, Adrianus had put the blade in instead of the animal's aorta, the male goat squealed, slipping from his hand and ramming his head at a nearby assistant. It also spilled two oil lamps and broke several ceramic pots before running away. And that's the only interesting thing about this ceremony, the rest was all about boring men and women doing boring things as it supposed to be.

After a disappointing performance, they replaced Adrianus with a younger man and of course, a smaller goat. The assistants used a large vase to contain the hot blood from the animal's blood vessels before mix it with alcohol. The heart was cut open before the witness of everyone, the three great priests approached, reached out their hand and touched the intestine and began ... to predict.

In front of the holy statue of the goddess God Hardy in ferocious black armor and Vissko the Justice with his emerald eyes, the future of her father, Emperor Molt Son Augustus would be revealed through blurred dots, a bruise on the liver, heart and intestine of a goat.

Pina didn't understand what they based on to make such prediction. Whether it's just a hoax or a mere trick but the High Priests were really careful in keeping their secret. As usual, among the twelve old men there were only three knew the authentic way of divination and each received just one disciple. When they died, the disciple obviously became a high priest and that how wheel continued to rotate. The reason why they did that was unknown to the public and whenever things werent clear, they got mysterious and people gradually believed magic was real.

A high priest, probably the leader in a group of three, turned to say something to the crowd below in Elvish language. His voice was so soft that Pina could only hear a few words:

_Not yet, the signs havent been revealed yet._

A Sound of disappointment echoed throughout the sanctuary. Everyone simultaneously knelt on the floor, praying with their fingers intertwined, and with this momentum, there would be dozens of goats losing their lives before the gods gave the answer they needed.

So frustrated with the bullshit before her eyes, Pina decided to leave, no member of the senate borther to stop her, some even wished her luck on the way out. Like their princess, most of them weren't eager to stay here for hours if not for the duty required. However it was just most of them.

"Princess, the ceremony is just beginning."

Cirius looked at Pina with astonishment when he saw her and entourage standing by the giant carved stone gate.

"I'm sorry, Lord Cirius. I honestly want to stay for a little longer but because of urgent work ..."

" Urgent? " He interrupted her "What's more urgent than your father's heath? Everyone have come here to make sure the emperor will be on the throne again."

Cirius is not quite a devout person. Pina remembered that he looked different before. Controversial and realistic. The loss of his eldest son in the Ember campaign and the wife due to smallpox had broken his mind. The situation was so catastrophic, Cirius kept the youngest child in his own house, not allowing him to do anything that he thought was dangerous, even riding a horse was also prohibited. The child became increasingly ill and after catching a cold in the last winter, he died. After that, it was well known that Cirius got even deeper into the mrntal breakdown but no one understood why he chose to seek conformity in these liars.

"I acknowledge their sincerity, Cirius, but as you can see, prophesies like knives cut into my heart. I can't bear if that is death. Women are created to be more emotional than men and which girl does not fear the death of her father? The Emperor's life is now completely in the hands of the gods and if they assert that this is the way it should be, then we have no other choice except obeying. Please don't misunderstand my intention dear Cirius, I just want to find a place where I can gnaw at this pain. "

She hoped the tired face from the heat and lethargic eyes due to alcohol were enough to convince the devout man. Even such an ass like Cirius would bothered a girl who was dying in her fear of losing her loved one.

"Don't worried too much, your highness. I believe the gods are always on our side." He comforted her "The high priest Adrianus says the chances of success are still very high, about seven-tenths."

Yes, the chance of success was also high for Pina's three baby brothers.

"That's great to hear." She gave him a false smile. "The god blesses the emperor and those who serve him faithfuly, my lord."

So that how she tricked the old fool Cirius to lower his head and let her leave the temple.

The atmosphere outside was much more appreciated. At least there was no smell of fishy blood, of cattle and of the blinding smoke from burning incense which was about to turned anyone presented into sausage. Pina hated seeing blood since the time she had witnessed Norma's head lying on the side of his body at Italica. An awful experience for her and for the Knights of Rose in their very first battle.

"Do you need your palanquin, your Highness?" The maid named Hiri asked her as she looked down at the two thousand steps leading to the foot of Vinusa hill

It must be more than that number if someone took their time counting. For the record Vinusa was the highest hill in the city. In Sadera, people wasn't fond of using carriage cause the roads were too narrow for them, meanwhile the palanquin was more compact and stylish. Basically they were gorgeous beds with a pretty colorful curtain and four slaves to carry. However, going down a hill in a palanquin was a very bad idea. Pina suddenly recalled the last experience when she struggled to cling to the edge of the bed.

"No need for that. I can walk."

At the foot of the hill, Bozes and Gray were standing next to two jet-black war horses. Bozes looked grumpy with her long hair cut short, a thing which beautiful Knight once declared would never touch even though it caused her lots of trouble in battle. It seems that being in charge of keeping the capital order for two weeks had made Bozes change her mind.

"Bozes, what's the situation? Pina asked."

"Last night there were three horse races on Donio street, two more rape cases yesterday and we also put the end to six brawl in pubs around the city. Stealing and robbery were beyond counting your Highness." Bozes drop on one knee, her cloak gently kissed the reddish-brown soil at the foot of the hill, and the armor had some very new scratches. "Nothing can be done with the troop we have now."

The Knights under her command were not suitable to be City Watch. They were trained to charge the enemy ranks with their utmost pride, not get in the fight with common criminals in the dark narrow alleys. It was a waste, but she had no other choice. Two-thirds of the city guards were sent to block all roads leading to the Imperial capital on Zorzal's order, and with the Royal Guard was keen on defending in the royal palace despite Zorzal's wrath and Pina's request, she had to do something before the whole city started eating each other.

"We need more people." Bozes insisted. "I had asked the 3rd Legion and the commander of militia forces in 3 three mile around the city but they told the soldiers arent allowed to enter the capital while the militia did not dare to do anything without Prince Zorzal's permission. "

"You must advice the Prince canceled the blockade immediately" Gray said with a voice that could not be more gloomy. "People are angry. Every night, I hear them whispering in the basement, behind the closed doorway and the sound of knife sharpening. If thing continue like this, there will be riots."

_You assume I wasnt aware of that_? Pina get annoyed, _What you want me to do? I'm not Lorenthar who "single hand" saved the empire in the time of need._

But Grey and Ducan were right when saying the whole city was on fire. Zorzal hoped that the blockade would lead the Japanese into starvation and it was a foolish move she ever saw. Men in green only need a week to destroy the ten legions of the empire and hundred of thousand allies soldiers. And they even killed the legendary fire dragon, an victory that would echo through ages to come. Zorzal's brain was probably not enough to cook half of the fried egg if he thought he could settle the scorce with this kind of enemy.

"Gray, please go to Lord Lucius and ask for fifty swords," Pina ordered. "If not enough, you can go to every squares and post the recruitment notices. Anyone knows how to use weapons can join the City Guard, raise the salary a little higher than usual to encourage them. "

"Forgive me your Highness but I don't agree with that." Bozes bit her lips. "Recruiting people like that and we will have a army of thieves and thugs"

"Then the number of thieves and thugs will be less and the number of soldiers will increase." Pina said "Two birds with one stone."

The grimace look on Bozes face made Pina had a feeling that she had just made a terrible decision. But as mentioned before, she was runing short of option right now. It would be better to have an army of old man than to have no soldiers.

Pina ordered the two to escort her to the palace. However, before she could get on the horse, a loud scream suddenly rang up a few blocks away. Without waiting for her to react, Bozes and Gray immediately launched their horses and ride like the wind to the place where scream originated from. Pina chased after them but "Coquetterie" disappointed her. The white horse with the silver mane had the same personality as its name, haughty and headstrong. Coquetterie only likes to go on a trot and she must made an effort if she wants it to go faster. It is not wrong to tell Coquetterie to be a worthy rider for the princesses.

Bozes and Gray disappeared in the cramped alleys of Petroian District, a area famous for wine and prostitutes. It is not difficult to catch a few shadows lying on the steps of the shabby buildings or under the bridge. Although it was just past noon, nearly half of the population was in a drunken state. The city might lack sugar, flour and salt but surprisingly never ran out of wine. Now Pina suddenly noticed that no taverns had been closed since the blockade.

Prostitutes were everywhere to be seen. They put on themselves all kinds of cheap jewelry and the seductive outfits then gathered in small groups at the crossroad or taverns. Pina always had strange interest in those who were in plessure bussiness , especially their perfume. A strong fragrance, different from the usual type that high – born ladies used. Some prostitutes bowed their heads when Pina passed by because they were well aware of who she was but some of them didn't even bother to hide their challenging looks also because they knew who she was.

Before deciding that she would die on the battlefield, she had dreamed of becoming a physician. The image of Saint Amery in a long white dress made Pina's heart flutter when she thought that one day she would stand under the shadow of the magnificent Mivara temple, surrounded by a group of sick and hungry people, stretching their hands in despair, waiting for help from her. After that, within a few months, to the astonishment of Sadera residents, eight hospice camps sprouted thanks to Pina's persuasion and financial support from members of the senate. Zorzal laughed at her face, Dialo ignored her and the Emperor just coldly said,

"People will thank you, treat you as a saint but they would never be afraid of you and Once they are not afraid, they will never treat you like a true monarch "

"Glory to the emperor and the crown prince," a prostitute wearing a flower skirt said with a playful tone, "Oh. I almost forgot. Good day to you Princess."

Seeing Pina not responding to her provocation, she laughed even louder which encouraged others to start giggling. Her father's words somewhat had the truth in it. Pina was certain that these girls didn't dare to look up at Zorzal, let alone open their mouths to mock him. And she always hated it when he was right.

The noise in front of Pina interrupted her thoughts. In a street that looks wider than the rest of the Petroian district, a crowd stands in a circle in front of the shabby brothel which had a very amusing name "Brown fairy". Pina wondered if the owner was implying that the strong liquor he had have color like brown sugar or it was sweet honey skin of the waitress who serve them?

The curious crowd got bigger and bigger, Pina hurriedly pushed her horse forward. Coquetterie got annoyed when geing surrounded by the smell of sweat, the smell of yeast and the pungent scentbut the whip that she held in her hand gave the horse the necessary motivation that it need.

In the middle of the circle were eight people stood under the harsh sun. Bozes and Gray looked radiant in silver armor and red robe with a blond haired Harpy kneeling next to them and cursing something in her own language. On the opposite side were five men wearing black padded armor and chainmail. Their face was fierce and threating as their swords, especially a bald man with a long scar on his cheek. By the look of it, Pina could tell what was going on here. These five men had just assaulted a prostitute before her knights put the stop to that. Giving that Harpy was famous for the job, so she wasn't afraid of being bias toward her and her people.

"I think we should stop here!"

Pina heard Bozes' voice loud and clear in the noisy crowd, her was sharp and full of anger. The skinhead guy looked at the blond knight from head to toe but instead of talking to Bozes, he turned to Gray:

"And I think you should drag the old ass to somewhere else." Said the man. By the accent, she could tell that he was from somewhere in the East "Don't put your nose in someone else's business."

"It's never considered as a virture to bully a girl like that." Gray calmly replied to him with a stern look. "You and your friends should let this go this before anyone gets hurt."

"Let it go?" A a small bearded man roar then pointing at the scratch that was still very new on his face. "See what the whore has just done to me? I must make her pay for it."

"And she had already done it." Gray glanced at the streak of blood dropping from the corner of her lip and nose, "Her nose is broken."

"Aye! But her neck isnt and it would be your if you still try to stand in our way."

"Why did he hit you?" He ignored him.

"He won't pay," she hissed. "When I ask him to, he hits me."

"Liar! I paid you the five Denarii, you lecherous bitch."

"It is payment for serving you" She retorted "You have three people, it must be fifteen denarii."

"You didn't mention it before spearding your legs for us" He laughed haughtily "It's your fault."

"Yes! It's my fault" she smirked. "I didn't expect you to be that stupid.

"Damn you, whore!" He drew his sword and rush forward. Gray, as fast as a squirrel, blocked his way to the Harpy with a long sword in his right hand.

"Get out of my way." The short man roar "Or you will kill you then fuck your old ass."

"Easy now, buddy."

He swung his sword, aiming for unprotected part on the knight's shoulder. Gray gently locked the attack and pushed him backwards. The crowd cheered in delight, Pina was just as surprised as they were. Gray was an excellent swordsman, but she rarely saw him in a real fight. After years of earning glory in many campains and Tournaments, the old knight only spent the whole day and night in the palace, devotedly teaching the noble children, including her how to hold the sword hilt, how to fight and die like a true warrior but his swordmanship didn't get old. At the age of fifty, Gray was able to win any of his the disciples in every duel. Even when Pina, Bozes and Panache worked together, the result was not much better.

"The old man is pretty good though." The bald head laughed, "Rats, Karls, Rouge, what are you fuckers waiting for?"

The other three guys took out their weapons. Rats used a gladius with brass handle, Karls had a scary spike mace and Rouge armed himself with short spear in. The skinhead leader with Rats and Rouge circled Gray while Bozes, a target they consider to be easier had to deal with the other two.

And the fight began in thunderous cheers.

Bozes deflect the little bearded man's thrust and swung her sword at Karl. With a mace, Karl couldn't do much but blocking two blows before the cold steel blade ripped a line from his shoulder to the hip. Karl cried out in pain and collapsed. The little man panicked and launched a straight stab aiming at Bozes's chest but committing a terrible mistake. He missed the target. The tip of the blade just grazed the shoulder guard, causing no harm except a scratch on the thin steel plate. Without hesitation, Bozes gave him punch on ugly his face with her gauntlet, causing the man to immediately fall to the ground and go fainted.

The skinhead also soon realized he had made a terrible desicion. Rouge's spear was cut off before it could reach the breast plate of the silver-headed knight and just after a swing of the sword, Rouge's head left his neck and rolled on the yellow dusty ground. Rats didn't fair any better, his life ended with strike piercing through his chest. To everyone's amazement, the old knight seemed to not even moved but there were two bodies lying on the ground

"You ... You !"

The leader was trying to say something but Pina couldn't hear clearly. The panic and astonishment probably caused his throat to harden.

"I told you to let this go before someone got hurt."

The leader hold the sword on the top of his head, ready to lauch a slash from above aiming at Gray's neck. The knight didn't step back nor did intended to lock the incoming attack, he gently bent down and cut his enemy like a slice of bread from the ball to head.

The crowd was disappointed because the fight didn't happen in a way they expect. Too short and overwhelming. The cold sound of the torn cheap chainmail armor signaled to the women that it was time to close the window, and the men should go back inside and drank the wine until they couldn't feel their legs

"Is that it?"

Pina heard someone say in the crowd of people walking away. It's hard to expect an different outcome when two armed knights only have to deal with a group of random thugs.

"I surrender!" The little guy now crawled up. Everyone almost left so no one noticed that he was still alive. "Here! Your money here, girl."

He threw at the Harpy girl a small leather bag before running away with his bloody broken nose. Gray and Bozes picked up their weapons into piles while the prostitute was busy counting her earnings.

"Call the City Guard, Bozes," Gray said as she pulled the heavy body of the leader into the shade. He was a heavy ones "And watch out for Vultures."

The Vultures weren't exactly birds. That was the names given to opportunities that poke around quarrels, knife fights between hostile guilds and waiting for the end. A ring, earrings, armor, or boots all had prices as long as you was fast enough and there was people willing to buy. As Pina observed, there were three potential candidates here. Two lousy men and a dirty boy. It seemed these vultures got younger years after years

"This will find its owner if the golden cloaks appear" Bozes waved the Rats' shiny Gladius in front of the boy "Understand what I mean?"

The boy nodded his head and ran towards the Blood gate, the two men turned to look at each other in shock. That sword alone could be enough for them to be full till next week. Bozes plugs Gladius into the ground and spoke loudly :

"If you touch anything with your hands, it will be the last time you have a hand."

The two vultures jerked away and quietly walked away. They know they shouldn't mess with two knights, especially Bozes. Even when she was only ten, Bozes' ferociousness had already made people scared to death. She snatched hair of any girls said bad things and jump into the fight with any boy who dared to tease her. Like the proud lion on the Co Palesti family's crest, she likes submission from smaller creatures and was willing to use violence if they disobey. Gray refused to hold the position of vice commander of the Knights order and gave it to Bozes, though he was better than his student at swordsmanship and had more experience.

"_My father was a shoemaker at Gin Alley, and my mother sold embroidery at the foot of the bridge. People will never follow the son of the shoemaker and sell the embroidery at the bottom of the bridge. But the words of the heir of the Co Palesti family will be like from Hardy himself "_

" Thirteen!? Fucking bastard! "The girl Harpy walked over to check the leader's pocket and began to rant" A bastard and four empty guys. "

"Perhaps all the money had been thrown into dice and wine. " Said Gray "It could be the reason why they tried to scoop up your money."

"What about these ? I can sell them. "

" No way! "Bozes snarled." They're now possession of the city guard, lady. "

" Is the City Watch became Vulture these day? You two are too noble to be good vultures as well as a damn Golden Cloak_. "_

"We arent men of the Watch!" Bozes gritted her teeth. "We are the Knights of Rose."

"A fancy name for the butchers." Pina felt like the Harpy was laughing inside "Tell me, Knight. When a people like you gutted someone, would it make you any different than these idiot?"

"Swinging the sword with good reason is not murder. That's justice, lady."

"Whoever doesn't try to rationalize his actions. And don't call me a lady again. I'm a harpy, a prostitute and under the shadow of the rules set up by your kind, I am never a lady, never wanted anyways. "

Pina had had to tried her besr to not laugh out loud. Witnessing Bozes Co Palesti got owned by a prostitute was a rare occasion. When was the last time her friend was that angry? Pina can't remember. Probably never.

If you look closely, the Harpy girl was pretty and has a similar look to Bozes. Blond hair with high cheekbones. The bold makeup and rough feature of people soon living the street made she looked a bit older than her real age but Pina was quite sure that the Harpy was about her age.

"That nose won't heal itself," Gray said. "You need a good healer."

"Kurokawa can fix everything. Back when a guy punched me in the ..."

"What !?" Pina interrupted. She hurriedly dismounted from the horse, grabbed the two Harpy shoulders "Do you know Kurokawa?"

"Of course!" She rolled her eyes in shock. "Hey! Let go of me!"

"If you talk to the princess again with that attitude, I will show no quarter." Bozes Touch the grip of the dagger on her belt. "You must call Princess or your Highness."

"We don't have time for this, Bozes," Pina ordered. She removed her hand from the Harpy's shoulder. "What's your name?"

"Mizari ..." She hesitated when seeing a murderous look of Bozes Co Palesti "Mizari, your Highness."

"Very well, I have a job for you. Of course the wages will be very generous, do you want to take it?"

She looked a little hesitant. When a noble offers a job with generous remuneration, There was a big fat chance that the greedy idiot wouldn't have the opportunity to spend them. Sometimes, generosity was always accompanied by danger and people gradually understand that the rich didn't become richer by giving wheath aways.

"I just need you to send a letter for me" Pina reassures Mizari "After sunset, go to Athenian Square and wait. My people will bring a letter to you."

"Send to whom, Princess?"

"Take it to the Japanese representative office in Akusho and give it to Lord Sugawara."


	6. Kayle III

Sitting in the backseat made Kayle felt both uncomfortable and pleased at the same time. The comfort that Nissan offered was beyond anything she expected. Premium leather upholstery, carpeting was also a special type of handmade product and if she got thirsty while praising how soft and pulpy it was, there was a mini fridge under the seat ready to serve.

Kayle was no stranger to expensive goods. More than half of her life associated with the most fashionable outfits from designers whose names were confusing and ridiculous, equivalent to their reputation. She drove the Mercedes to school and spent most of her winter vacation in a Manson in Charleson. Compared to them, this Nissan wasn't that much to begin with. But as people often said, "It is so good to be so miserable,". Kayle just had a awful flight and a terrible breakfast, so she didn't hesitate to enjoy this luxury with enthusiasm. The only thing that made her uncomfortable here was the guy who was reluctant to act.

Pattrick Hammer, also known was a man of few words, only open his mouth when asked. _Is he really a Embassy employee, _ she asked herself_, And why does he have to sit behind the wheel? _Didn't the Department always use their own chauffeur to let loquacious fellow like Patt do the talking part?

_Maybe he was a trainee ... No way, _ she dismissed that thought immidiately, he was too old to be a trainee and too scary to be related . His face's skin was and clean , somewhat pale, and his eyes were easily reminiscent of weasels or wolves. In every aspect, Patt wasn't a friendly person.

"When will we get there?"

She asked him. Actually, she didn't need to know until she arrived but she kept asking him anyway. His silence began to make her feel frustrated.

"Forty minutes." He glanced at the rearview mirror. "Maybe a little bit longer."

And he never add "Major" in the end of the sentence. Although Kayle wasn't principle kind of person, she must admit after that being in the Army for a long time made her accustomed to be addressed by her rank instead of her name. It felt a little weird when people didn't do so, even the ones she was talking to was a civilian like Patt.

He looked at the rearview mirror again and then drove into the deceleration lane. They were on the freeway connecting central Tokyo with the suburbs, where factories, industrial zones grew close together and this overpass overlapped that overpass. The scenery outside was boring. In front of her eyes was only a long line of cars and cars with gray buildings.

Curling up in a thin blanket found behind the driver's seat, Kayle tried not to fall asleep. For several months, every time she closed her eyes, she instanly sunk deeply into dreams and strange illusion. At Fort Barg, They did taught her to master thing so-called "Sleeping technique", a trick that help soldiers to control sleep as they desired. Once the body has reached its limit, muscles began to have signs of numbness and brain activity was slowing down, anyone needed to sleep but taking naps for more than two hours on battlefield meant closing your eyes forever. Twenty minutes was more than enough to recover the functions needed to fight on. Sadly, Kayle had lost this ability since leaving Iraq. Now she often slept like the death, and in her dreams, she saw cows running wildly in the fields, seeing waves hitting rocky shores before rolling small stones back into the ocean.

_I have to keep awake and cautious_

She mutter to herself. Being sent to a place that had nothing to do with her specialty made her mood worse. Kayle could not help but wondered what exactly those fragrant and beautiful civil servants needed from a military personel like her and why it was so rushing?

The situation is going on in the way she was so familiar with when she was in Spectre and it made her goosebumps a bit. Kayle was part of a hasty and secret plan carried out by the hands of the central intelligence agency and only God knew what its goal was. Funny when the CIA was better at fooling its people than fooling its opponents. In that case, Pattrick Hammer wasn't a normal employee on the payroll of Department of State and she could not sure if his name was Pattrick or Patt.

After nearly ten minutes of trying to keep her eyes from closing and almost failed to do so, Kayle decided to pry Pattrick even though she didn't expect him to spew out something useful.

"This is first time you were abroad, right?"

He hesitated for a while but then he answer. "I practiced for a year in Paris, a year in London. This is my first time in Asia."

" Paris? "Kayle gasped." The city of light. "

Almost every woman felt so excited when Paris or France suddenly appeared in the story. Kayle wasn't the exception after being promised by her parents that they would allow her to visist Paris when she was old enough.

_Paris,_ Just whispering the name and she cold smells the toast, the smell of white cheese, the smell of roasted coffee from the cafés next to the river bank and the great Louvre museum where all the essence of human creativity was stored. One day, Kayle told herself, she would definitely visit France. When thinking of it, everything seemed to be on the right track. Kayle was sitting on a vehicle owned by the Department of State, driven by its agent, and even a bottle of mineral water on her hand was labeled "US State Department".

"Of gangsters and thieves" Patt said in a mocking tone "Immigrants rushed to Europe, filling every shappy dirty building blocks you can find in the suburb, and mosque after mosque pop up like mushrooms after the summer rain. Every time I go down to the street, my ears are about to explode . Romanian, Arabic, even Indian. The whole city look like stuffed meat dish right now and giving it a few more years, who know what will it became "

What a strange attitude for a man of diplomacy.

He spoke as if throwing a bucket of cold water into Kayle's face. This guy was not only boring but also rude and xenophobic at the same time, rarely does a man denigrated the city of light in front of women. Kayle tend to argue with him but then gave up because she knew she must restrain herself. The impulse of officers should not be spent on such pity quarrel like this. Moreover, Patt might be right. She had never been in the city of light for once after all? Paris might not be as in her imagination as Bagdad turned out not to be the paradise oasis in the desert in Arabian Nights.

"That's a pity" She commented, "Ten years ago it was still crown jewel of Europe."

"At least Jausiereine is the same as ever." He said, "I'm happy for that."

"She must be a wonderful woman." Kayle was surprised at the fact that there was still a person out there who actually fell in love with him . "Are you still in contact with the Jausiereine?"

Through the rearview mirror, a mysterious smile appeared on Patt's thin lip. He was smirking and although Kayle didn't understand why he did that, she assumed he was up for something that she wouldn't want to know.

"Yes, I meet her every day." He said "Right in front of the restaurant opposite to the embassy."

After that, the journey returned to its original state. Dull and silent. The Nissan turned off the highway and headed for the city center. From afar, buildings were like ash-colored bricks standing close to each other in mist. And in the middle of them, Tokyo TV Tower was like a strange touch that rose above from the gray background of a painting. Kayle hate rainy days like this. They reminded her of the funeral. Coincidentally, any funeral that she attended procceed in they way as if they had been scripted by the same man; The widows sobbed uncontrollably then collapsed, the children stood sagging next to the coffin, the guards of honor with faces carved from stones, shooting a volley of farewell gunshot in the gloomy sky. It seems that people always had a habbit of choosing horrible days to do horrible things.

_If I die, I will leave this world in mid- summer day with blue sky and light shinning above_. But time passed and that promise gradually became a wish then Kayle suddenly realized people always thought of something they could never achieve.

"It looks like we'll be late." Patt chucked and looked at the platinum watch on his wrist "Damn it, the line is even longer than yesterday. "

Kayle looked up and noticed that the vehicles were crowding around her. She lowered the window, poked her head out, cold raindrop fell on her blond hair and collar.

"Something is going on near the bridge," she told Patt, "An accident? Traffic jam?. "

" Probably both." He patted his finger on the wheel, whistling to the cheerful melody of yankee doodle " As usual. "

"You speak as if the Japanese were the ones who messed things up all the time. I don't recall they have ever earned that reputation."

She remembered the way the Japanese man carefully folded his jacket and placed it under the tree. The folds were so beautiful and neat, she thought she had lightly touched them with admiration.

"That may not be true before but this war had done something wrong to their mind , and what we are seeing here is the consequence of it. There are two bridges connecting this district to the city center, one has been knocked down on the day of the attack, the smaller one is in front of our eyes. "

Patt began to tell about that fateful day. A deafening explosion, louder than any explosion that the embassy's people heard during the acttack. They ran out and then saw a giant column of smoke appearing in the east.

"It took a while for us to know that the Japanese Air Force had knocked down the Toyomi Bridge on the news channel. Everyone was afraid that the enemy would enter the inner area while the JSDF did not have enough troops to protect every sectors. A Tomahawk from a warship in the bay I suppose because I don't think they dare to use bombs. "

About this, Kayle was not surprised at all. Althought GBU had the power and the reliability suitable for the task, they weren't always on the standard list of Japanese F-16 weapons system. Moreover, none with a sane mind would think bombing a populated city on their own soil was a good idea . With Tomahawk, the accuracy was almost absolute and therefore much safer. What was borthering Kayle was why Pattrick Hammer, a paper handler, knew what collapsed the bridge was a missile. Did they teach these things at the diplomatic academy? It would be strange if they had but there was an possibility …. _Impossible, _ she dismissed that thought right away.

"An terrible mistake" He cleared his throat and continued, "Toyomi is the shortest path to Ginza, so the reinforcements had to take a detour and the horde of legionarie and monsters almost overran the palace if it wasn't for that guy. A random JSDF officer I think but what was his name? Ita..Itami? Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore. "

If it was the US military, then Marine battalions would certainly fight to tooth and nail to regain control of the bridge instead of destroying it. But the JSDF was not U.S Army, if she remember correctly, the last time they fought in a war was seventy years ago. The first battle of Spectre was better to be said. Hugh the tallest and strongest operator of the unit lost one leg and Kayle herself got shot on the shoulder while trying to find that detached limb of his.

"It took some time for the Japanese parliament to find their scapegoat. A retired old general stood up and took full responsibility. But the most interesting thing is how to restore the bridge. Some people demanded that the bridge be moved to another place because the cost of cleaning up the rubble on the river bed was too high while the whole of Japan was in the state of war. Maybe they did not see it in that way but sending the army to foreign territory only means war. "

"And the bridge hasn't been re-built yet? "

"Look around you, Major" He said "Does everything look good? Not at all. Let me tell you a truth. Japanese people have more things to worry about than a bridge. Ever since that gate appeared, Middle East also left the New York Time cover page. All nations crave to set foot in the Special Region so bad that they are actually ready to use force if necessary. Do you remember what happened when people found America?

They fought each other for five years to own the new land. The first was the Spaniards who came and destroyed all of the indigenous civilization then British and the French struggled for the East Coast, and finally the United States swept all of them out to become hegemony. The prospect of a century-long war did not interest Kayle at all and there was not a chance in hell she want to be the next Conquistador.

"Let hope it wont come to that."

Kayle smiled bitterly. How many times had her hope been crushed by the harsh of reality? One, ten or one hundred? Sometimes one was just more than enough.

"God of fortune favor the bold" He said, "War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man."

"The man is a good philosopher but he isnt a soldier. "

Finding the bright side of the war was like catching a cat in a dark room, only there was no cat there to be caught.

"You knew him? "

"I know some of them" Kayle replied.

"A philosopher doesn't have to be an outstanding warrior. Machiavelli had never been on battlefield once but none can the understand war like he did. War is a play and we are all actor with specific role and limited lines but that doesn't mean we don't know what is going on right? Let me give you example. We have a tons of poor bastards in the Army now and when it come to fighting, there is without a doubt they are among the best that we can offer but they are still a pieces of the game, a satellite that rotate around the planet, never see the whole picture or the truth behind every shots they took. They seemed to accept their role given to them but you and I didn't and that made both of us exceptional."

What the hell was he talking about? Kayle now prefer the silent and sullen version of his more than ever.

"What do you mean by that?"

Patt didn't answer, he simply put his hand into the inner pocket and took something out. Kayle was startled by that, her hand immidiately reach to the non-existent holster on her ight thigh. Not only did his looked unfriendly but even every movement he made also push her to the edge.

"Here." He leaned back and gave her a Japanese cigarette packet with a matchbox. "Sorry, it's hard to get American goods here."

"I don't smoke." Kayle shook her head.

"You do." Pat's voice was cold, but green flames burn wildly in his jade-colored eyes "Roland said you smoked a lot in Iraq."

Roland died, Kayle wanted to say so but somehow, words get suck in her throat. There was no way this weasel knew Roland. Spectre members only used alias and constantly change their names when being on missions. There was only a few people who knew Kayle's true identity and that number would be smaller if the person they was talking about was Roland, who was in charge of all Spectre field mission.

"Oh my bad. I should better call him Lamb. I suppose that was how they used to call him, right?"

Kayle waited for Patt to lower the window then lit her cigarette up. The cool air rushed in, caressing the naked skin on her neck but the smoke made her blood vessels boil, and her head light so she didn't feel cold.

"Who are you, Pattick?"

"If you want to start. You should ask the right question. "

_So this is how your game work? Fine, So be it _. Honestly Kayle half want to know what the heck they were planning to and the other half was she knew she had no other choice.

"Who am I, Pattrick?"

"Well, that is for the ambassador to decide."

* * *

The US Embassy looked like a fortified fortress with concrete walls, reinforced glass doors, security checkpoints and machine gun nest rather than a normal civil building. Other embassies were also armed to the teeth. Kayle saw four snipers on the top of the British embassy, the white Kepi of the Foreign Legionnaire in front of the French embassy's gate next to Bundeswehr's typical Flecktarn uniform surrounded the German embassy. Judging by the mere appearance, this diplomatic area was less diplomatic than anywhere else in the city.

"It feels like home right?" Patt Or whatever his name was, commented "After the Ginza incident, the Department of State had double everything needed for the next "Invasion". Guards, walls, guns, you name it. No shit, we just replaced all of our ordinary security guards with two platoon of marines week ago. It seem that big guys in D.C don't place a lot of trust in JSDF even after the battle Alnus. Strange, our friends in NATO also have the same thought too. Those snipers you just saw hadn't been there two days ago and I overheard that they are from S.A.S "

Indeed the sight did reminded her of the Green Zone in Iraq, except Kayle did not think there would be a tax -free pub own by the CIA. She herself had many unpleasant memories with that place. It was fair to say whatever central intelligence agency had it's hand in always brought along tons of trouble.

"Who are you, Pattrick?"

This was the third time she asked him but still hadn't received an answer yet. Patt continued to avoid it by talking about something else.

"The Ambassador will meet you in an hour. I hope bring along suitable outfit. "

Kayle smiled wryly at her appearance. Her combat uniform was wrinkled and filled with rain water. "What do you think?" She asked him.

"I'll arrange" he said with a sigh. "Your meeting with ambassador must go as smoothly as possible. It will be a shame if a US military officer show up in such . "

They passed the first security checkpoint called" Sunrise " although Kayle could not see the sun since she arrived at Tokyo.

"Do you need to name it like that ? Why don't you go with the alphabet and get done with it?"

"I'm not in charge of naming them." Patt said as he pulled down the window and handed to the corporal in marine service uniform some sort of paper.

"Really? I honestly want to know you're ... "

"Good morning assistant Hammer. It's a surprise to see you this early "The corporal at late greeted them with a friendly smile. He was a tall, dark- skinned man with a long scar on his cheek. "And your passenger is ..."

"Nobody. Remember that well, Roger. I just took the ambassador's wife to visit an old friend of her today and because she wanted to sleep at that friend's house tonight, I came back alone. "

" Of course, Yes .. Yes, I am clear on that sir." The smile on Roger's face disappeared , he then nodded his head to signal the barrie bar to be lifted up.

"The fewer people know the you come here, the better it would be. I'm sure you know how we work right?. "

"There's no we here. "Kayle raged." I have nothing to do with you and your damn scheme. Do I need to remind you that i'm a military officer? That's right, I'm only responsible for answering and obeying commands of my commanding officer, Colonel Moyes. "

Moyes was her trump card. He definitely didn't want to loose Kayle to the intelligence agency or anyone. To be more precise, he did not want to leave his lovely little bird in someone else's hand. She was not stupid to think working at training department of Okinawa base would mean the end to the love story between her and the CIA. Langley didn't have the a habbit of letting something cost them lot of time and resource to go with the wind that easy.

Kayle know she have some preparation to make if she intented to enjoy this retirement a little longer. Moyes was a target that couldn't be more perfect. The Goat was indeed a notorious pervert so it wasn't that hard to seduce and he also was too coward to go further so she lost nothing afterward except a bit of dignity. After a few attempts as well as suffering, she hoped that the poor old man would proved himself to be useful for once. A godamn Spook like Patt would soon find out that he had chosen the wrong person to fuck with. To be fair, Kayle today wasn't the idiot with the silly smile standing in the middle of Fire base Kerak that year.

"Relax, Major."He laughed "This is just a normal mission like the hundreds of mission you've ever done in Iraq. Nothing to worry about and Colonel Moyes will sign any paper we give to him otherwise…. "

"Why the hell will he do that? "Kayle jokingly asked "Don't say you gonna make him an offer he can't refuse?

"It wont come to that. We just need to remind the colonel to remember the fifty thousand dollar golf clubs, the free vacation to Fiji, and how many times he lay his hand on your breast. I have to be honest with you Major. I know you did on purpose but it was still pretty low and ... "

"That's enough! "Kayle was angry" Why are all of you weasels such cowardly, sneaky bastards? "

" Because, as I said everyone must play their roles. Politicians should be manipulated, generals need to be assertive, a good soldier must be valiant and spies must always be cowards. A valiant spy is as much useless as cowardly soldier. As far as I know, Major is a good soldier. "

Roland was an excellent warrior she had ever witnessed, so were Fisher and Carrick. But where are they now? Sometimes she considered that compliment was no different from bad luck and it was true to say good soldiers never die on sicking beds.

The Nissan turned right and headed straight to the parking basement. Patt didn't like the idea of parking outside because according to him, there were so many eyes looking at them right now and more important, the suit he was wearing costed at least nine hundred dollars.

"It would be a waste to ruin it." He smiled as he opened the car door for Kayle. This was the third time she saw him smiling and still didn't see any pleasant in it.

He then led her through a clean, but empty hallway and at the end of the hallway was an elevator with two marine armed with MP5s. Kayle realized immediately that this passage was only for VIPs or the ambassador himself when there was an emergency.

"As I said, we need to keep things as quite as possible." Patt said as he stepped inside. "I'll lead you to the waiting room now, Major. You has thirty minutes to prepare for the incoming meeting with the Ambassador."

The elevator took them to the fifth floor, the highest floor of the building according to the electronic panel near the elevator door. Patt led her into a room with a velvet sofa and a small wooden table set beside.

"You stay here while I go to find you a suitable uniform." Patt said then pointing his finger at the red door in the corner of the room. "The bathroom is over there. Make yourself at home."

After saying that, Patt stepped out, leaving Kayle alone. She silently observed the surroundings and began to act instinctively. At first, Kayle conducted a check under the two sofas to make sure they didn't install any recorder. After nothing had been found, she turned to the next suspicious object. That bookshelf was an ideal for hidden surveillance cameras. The cute Japanese doll dressed in Kimono on the table also looked suspicious as hell but since Kayle couldn't tear it apart to see what was inside her, she turned its face towards the wall. The thought of Patt standing somewhere out there and watching her through the screen made Kayle sick to the bone.

"It looks like everything is fine," Kayle muttered as she removed each ballpoint pen from the table. "Maybe I just get too paranoid."

The bathroom was very nice and comfortable compared to its modest size. Kayle looked at two small cabinets on the wall. There were two new brushes in nylon bags, an electric shaver with cream and soap for shaving. The rest is a multitude of colorful bottles stood neatly in an orderly fashion. Kayle guessed they were some sort of cosmetic or styling gel but she didn't borther to find out because most of them were not suitable for her anyway. This room was originally designed for men. Rarely did a woman went out and forgot to bring along any kind of makeup accessories like her.

Kayle looked into the mirror and was horrified when she realized how terrible she was at the very moment. Two dark circles was easy to been seen under her eyes bags due to lack of sleep while her hair as well as her whole body was sticky and smelly as she had been constantly exposed to the rain since last night.

_I need to bathe and do some makeup right away or become greatest joke ever in front of the ambassador_, Kayle thought. Fortunately, mascara boxes were available and she had about twenty minutes left to the meeting.

Taking a bath proved to be a wise decision. Hot water made Kayle feel sober, wash away all the sorrow and tension on her body from the time she boarded that chooper in Okinawa. But when it came to makeup, things got complicated. Kayle hesitated, not knowing which type of makeup would be more appropriate. Heavy or light? It was very popular to use heavy makeup when attending such formal event like this but honestly, Kayle prefer light makeup more and should she bold her eyebrows or just leave it there? In the end, she decided to just play a layer of chalk and used a special kind of cream called concealer to cover the dark circles below her eyes because she only had ten minutes left at best.

Just ten minutes later, Patt returned as scheduled. Kayle heard the sound of his footsteps as he gradually approached the bathroom door.

"I brought uniform for you, Major" Patt said as he knocked on the door.

"You can leave it on the sofa." Although she was wearing a bathrobe, Kayle by all mean didn't want him to get inside. The intuition told her that under those scary emerald green eyes of his, she would looked like she was naked.

He then did what she as without any further question. Kayle waited for him to leave the room and closed the door before stepping out.

"Holy mother of God! What the hell is this. "Kayle exclaimed when she saw the military uniform" Pattrick! The hell was you thinking? "

"What's the problem? "Patt opened the door, his face was expressionless as if he had expected this to happen." I think everything is still alright in my opinion." he glanced at Kayle and smirked and that only made her head about to explode.

"Naval service uniform?" She pointed her finger at the white militaryuniform lying on the red sofa. "Does it look alright to you?"

"White creates a feeling of friendliness for everyone around and beside this is the only uniform that I could find." He punctured straight answer, "Don't worry, I'm sure you will look great in it."

"Thanks for the compliment, but if you borthered to read the file, you would see it clearly states that I was an officer of U.S Army not the Navy"

"Then it cant be more convenient, as I said ..."

"The fewer people know who I am, the better!" Kayle interrupted. " Yeah I know it but swear to God, if I heard you say that one more time, you will regret it dearly and I won't put this thing on whatsoever! "

" Is there another option?"He leaned against the wall, watching Kayle stand there awkwardly in her bathrobe" Or are you going to wear that to the meeting? "

"No" Kayle helplessly answered. She indeed had no other choice.

_Nice move, you damn weasel,_ Next time it would be her turn to retaliate.

"Good. The problem has been solved. You have five minutes left. "Patt hastily replied and walked out.

Kayle murmured furiously as she pu her uniform on. The skirt was one size wider while the shirt was too tight. It was so tight that when Kayle finished installing all the buttons, she was almost unable to breathe. The scarf troubles her the most because she didn't know how to tie it properly. After a few minute of searching for memories of the naval officers she had met in her life, Kayle finally succeeded.

"Okay" Patt said when he saw Kayle came out of the room "Follow me."

He led her across the administrative room, where embassy employees were eager to read paper after paper of document before stamping it. There was an empty table at the end of the row and Kayle couldn't help but wish she had came here just to filled that empty seat. How simple and pleasant things would be if it was the truth. No deadly secrets, no danger.

"This is a visa room. The most bustling part here." Patt explained," And also the most dangerous. "

Some people looked up at Kayle as she passed by, but then quickly lowered their faces before the sharp gaze of Patt glided over them. No matter what position this guys held, he must have great power. Roger, then those Guard at the elevator and the staff didn't feared him for no reason.

"Mr. Hammer." A man called Patt from behind. "Mr. Henrich wants to meet the Ambassador for lunch."

"I have already told you the ambassador would not meet anyone today." He grumbled "Cancel his appointment immidiately. "

" But…. What should I say to him? "The agent was taken by surpirse. He replied awkwardly," Yesterday, the ambassador had accepted the invitation. "

"That was yesterday's story. "He growled "Tell that idiot our boss is having stomach aches, headache, a flu or something. Are you so stupid that you can't make up a excuse, Tom? If indeed you were that dense, then you was free to clear your table and fuck off "

"No, Mr. Hammer…I just…" Tom stammered, his face was as pale as a corpse, trying to find right words "I will do it right away, sir."

Then the employee nodded and ran in terror to his desk.

"That's it. What a useless pieces of shit. Do you agree with me Major? "He asked her." Sometimes, you need to use a whip instead of sweet candy. You can't imagine how bad the situation was when I first came here. "

Certainly more pleasant and bright than it was now, Kayle thought. She suddenly felt sorry for the people here when Patt was the one in charge.

The two continued walking and only stopped when they reach another elevator.

"And yet I thought the fifth floor was the highest." Kayle said with indifference. Embassies always have room for underground corridors, hatches, and other deadly secrets since the Cold War.

Patt ignored her comment and swipe security card through the scanner on elevator control panel. The door was opened and they entered.

"Can you tell me what is going on now?"

"That will be decided by the ambassador." He repeated mechanically "I didn't know you are that impatient."

The ambassador's living quarter was unexpectedly large, fully equipped with separate bathroom, living room and office. Kayle looked around and came to a conclusion: It's owner loved Roman Roman antiques. The pattern on the flower pots in four corners reminded her of the previous Latin lessons. Sobel, her Latin teacher also had similar pots like these, even though they were just replica. Next to the brown wooden door led to ambassador's office was a bust of a Roman celebrity. Ceasar? He doesn't look young. It might be Octavius.

When she was about to ask Patt about the statue's identity, the door was opened, a beautiful woman came out.

"Hello, Celie." Patt's voice suddenly sounded less grumpy "Is the ambassador ready to meet Major Wilson?"

"Yes he is waiting inside. Just has finished his breakfast " Said Celie.

Celie has a slender figure and her face remainded Kayle of Spaniel (a type of dog with long ears hanging down and a sad face that looks quite cute),with eyes were so gray it could be considered to be black. She look a little sad but determined still.

"Good luck." Celie said and Kayle had a feeling she was speaking to her rather than Patt.

"What ..."

"Come on, Major" Patt urged "Don't let he wait."

The ambassador sat behind his desk, a magnifying glass in his hand, staring intently at a coin-like object placed in a small wooden box. He was a man in his forties, not tall but fit. With a bald head and funny glasses, it easily mistook him for an antique hunter rather than a US ambassador.

"Major Wilson!" He put his glasses down on the table and held out his hand. " Sit down, please sit down ."

Kayle sat down cautiously, while Patt quickly went to stand next to the ambassador.

"You are more beautiful in the picture. I'm sure ships have to compete to have your service. "

" Ambassador, I don't… "Kayle knew that this would happen sooner or later.

"Oh, my mistake, I forgot the courtesy again. I'm Dominic, Dominic Hobson, the American ambassador to Japan. "He glanced at Patt and smiled." And this is Pattick Hammer, my assistant. I think he'd already introduced himself, right? Pattrick is thoughtful and polite man. "

Kayle gazed at Patt and snickered. He replied her with a look as cold as ice

"Yes, he is." She smiled and said, "Sorry, I have a few questions that I need you to answer. Is it okay? "

"Straight to the point? "He banged or slapped his hand together." Good, good! I like the amry style of doing things. You can ask annything you want."

Kayle tend to lean forward but her cramped shirt told her not to do so or there would exist the most embarrassing moment of her career

"How can I help you?"

Dominic suddenly stiffened, the excitement disapeared into the air. He slowly stood up and left the table then contemplating in front of the ancient mosaic depicting an ancient battle hanging on the wall. Kayle knew that mosaic, her father also had a copy back home.

"You know who this is, Major ?" He pointed to the mosaic "The greatest man in history. On battlefield as well as on the negotiating table. "

" Alexander the Great "Kayle nodded" Battle of Gaugamela "

Son of Zeus, king of Maccedonia, King of Asia Minor, The Pharaohs of Egypt, the one who conquered the Persian empire. Alexanderos's title must be longer at the time when he was alive. Soldiers idolize him, scholar were infatuated with him, and Kayle's father thought his wife had given the birth to the second Alexanderos, Louie. Thinking about it, Kayle found it a little weird because her father seemed not to remembered what had happened to Philipos (2)

"At Gaugamela, Alexanderos made a historic decision. He determined to fight the Persians even though they had a much bigger army than him and Darius was ready to reconcile. The King of Maccedonia dreamed of vast lands stretching from the Agean Sea to India, the city of Babylon and it's treasure of mountains of golden coin while his generals pleaded with him to sail back home. If thing happened in a different way , Alexanderos was just a stream of footnotes in history books but ... in the end we have Alexanderos the Great. "

Alexanderos is an idiot, Kayle thought, at least he could live to sixty years old and watched his son roll on his fortune instead of dragging his ass from this desert to another desert to sleep in makeshift tents, and taking shit in a newly dug hole. Though that was true, Kayle thought it would be impolite to say that.

"We are standing at a crossroads like Alexanderos that year." The ambassador continued, "Only forward or retreat back to the sea, Writing our own story or become a footnotes of someone else's story."

"True with what you said" She had heard enough lectures like this from her father. "But forgive me, Mr. Ambassador, I still don't understand what you mean."

"The US government has just been given access to the Special Region." Patt abruptly interrupted. " We are going to diplomatic convoy to the capital of nation called "Empire" and you are one of the first thirty Americans who first set foot to the new world. "

" Okay. So who am I, Ambassador? "

" Military attaché, representing the US military, "he replied


	7. Lev I

**Last week, i got a interesting review from a reader that i think i should address **

_"Why do I get the feeling that Kayle and Pina is going to be a thing. Oh God please say they're not going to be a thing."_

**Well i can assure you that it wont happen because Kayle and Pina are both straight and i myself found out that "girl on girl" thing is extremely hard to write. However, homosexuality do exists in Falmart society as it did in classical Rome where people didnt really looked down on this kind of stuff so at least i will mention this subject once or twice in my story. **

* * *

Lev Abramovich watched the last guests leave the restaurant and couldn't help but be graceful of this. He hated the hustle and bustle of the city life and had already spent more than half of his life avoiding them. Growing up in the middle of the Far East part of Russia, where the prairies stretched out of sight then being molded in a concrete forest, to him, was a unnatural thing , like a bear was put in chain and cage. Da Nang was just a small city compared to Moscow or St. Petersburg but it was crowded and noisy enough to make his nerves tensed.

"Do you want to have anything else?" The waiter came to his table and asked Lev in English because his Russian was proved to be far more terrible as he was greeting him two hour ago. "Desert?"

"Thank you, but if it was fine then I want another plate of roasted peanuts, please." Lev thought for a moment and then add "No, two plate of roasted peanuts ."

"Anything else? A bottle of Volka, for example. "He suggested," We have the best Vodka in the city, originally produced in Russia."

"I don't drink." Or to be more precise, I used to drink. "Roasted peanuts, please."

"Really?" The waiter didn't seem to believe his answer and he had a reason to do so. How many Russians you had met was vegetarian and said no to Volka? "What about you, my gorgeous lady?" He turned around and asked the wo... girl sat next to Lev.

"Me?" The girl was caught by surprise. Her two cheeks flushed with that compliment "Oh come on, my dear husband, adding some wine to our romantic dinner is more than just fine" She said, "A bottle of Black Bear, please "

When the waiter had left. Her "dear husband" chuckled:

"You should not do that, Miska "

"Do what? If you don't order drinks, it will be very impolite. Who on earth goes to a restaurant this big to only have roasted peanuts with mineral water? "

"I'm well aware of that. But it is not what I mean" Lev sighed. Hoàng had taught him quite a bit about the custom in this strange country but most of them didn't work well for someone who rarely went out and socialized like Lev "What I mean is why you keep calling me husband or darling for? We had agreed to pretend to be two colleagues went out for a late dinner already. Remember that?"

"Don't you like me as your wife? "Miska gave him a sly glance, beautiful golden brown curls of her lightly touched skinny shoulders as she giggled. _Like a daisies growing in the wild as she always is_ . Lev admited that he did got tempted by the idea but Miska was only of half his age and whenever he looked at her, his mind was thinking of someone else.

"Not that. If they thought we are husband and wife, they would ask questions. Question that I don't want to answer, questions like if we have children? Where did we meet for our first date? Where our house was? Downtown or suburb or about the color of lounge chair in the living room for example? I'm sure one of our answers will be in conflict with the other's. "

"Nah..you and your always-on-alerts attitude would overcast the whole universe! "Miska resentfully leaned her back in the chair, folded her arms then frowned "That is why I hate going out with you. Next time, I would go alone."

_But you always invite me to go out with you as well as accept my invitation all the time._

For some time, with a little of surprise, Lev had found out that Miska had a typical behavior of every females he had pleasure to meet. She might meant the opposite of what she was saying and she would not do whatever she she swore to do.

But still Lev hadn't fingured out how the girl in front of him could pass the qualifying exam then joint the rank of Specnaz yet ? During twenty years of dragging his ass from Chechnya to Bosina then East of Urkanie recently, he had encountered all kinds of people. Quick cunning Kazakhs with eyes as tiny as two peas, wine lover Cossacks who brought the scent of herring and Vodka to everywhere they went, and those terrified looking guys from the surrounding areas of Moscow who got so much tattoos on their backs that would make people mistaked OKP-1 from some kind of Bratva gang. The most insidious and awful collection of society according to Lev. Some of them he might consider as friends, the rest was so bizarre that he didn't want to be in the same room with. Sometimes Lev had a weird feeling that the Specnaz was just an excuses, a place for the gorvenment to get rid of the most insufferable alcoholic maniacs once the prison could no longer handle them.

To a world sunk deep in vodka, blood and mud like that, the emergence of Miska Galkin seemed like a strange bright color that couldn't be explain with normal logic. Four years ago, Lev had to rolled his eyes when seeing her standing there, at the door of his room in the baggy uniform and that tiny beret, smiling and chilling as if she were in the middle of summer camp

"Hello there. I'm Miska, nice to meet you, sir".

Then he had to make a few phone calls to check her transfer order and a few months after that, whenever hearing her giggle on the march through forests of Donbass, Lev was even more sure about some mistakes had been made along the way.

"I have not decided where I will go tomorrow. This city has so many attractions and we only have two days left." She took a small map out of her pocket, looked thoughtful "Lev, do you want to go to Aquarium? "

"I want to stay back at the hotel. "

"Then we should go hinking. I count five mountains around here and the guide said on the top of every mountain, there would be a temple. There are rumors about how holy they are. "

"Holy? "Lev suddenly thought of the priests and their Holy toenails in his childhood and couldn't help laughing. It was also considered to be extremely holy, so holy that the monastery had to keep it in a small golden chest and rarely put the relic on the show for the public. Strange thing was when Lev asked whose nail it was, no one could give him a straight answer "I didn't expect you to believe those things Miska."

"You don't believe someone above is watching over us?" She said as she looked up at the ceiling "I have ... met him once, you know"

"We have already talked about this." Lev sighed in desperation "You was in shock back then and lost quite a lot of blood. What you saw was just an illusion and that's it "

Miska was shot at noon on June 2th in a small town near Donetsk airport. A failed raid. They had spent the entire week snooping, planing every direction for the attack, scouting for safe route, identifying each machine gun emplacements but totally forgot about the sniper in the church bell tower. Belov died immediately after the first shot, the second one hit right on Miska's chest. Lev was forced to ordered the retreat and the whole squad had to run for their lives through the swamp under a strom of bullets, with a dying teammate on their backs. Up to five times, Lev had thought breathed her last breath, but no, Miska was somehow alive when they brought her to the hospital. A miracle, god's will or result of doctor's amazing skill. Lev wasn't sure anymore, but Miska believed all three and started going to church since then.

"Dyor believed me. He said it was a great blessing to meet God almighty and I had to be very special. "

"That guy will believe the unicorn is real as long as he finds his way to get into your ..." Lev paused. Anyway, he shouldn't be too crude in front of a girl. "He said that just to please you."

Fortunately, Dyor was discharged and he had one less problem to slove. Miska has a lot of pursuers since it was too hard for the men to keep eyes off that blue polka dots dress and such a lovely smile. Lev didn't know if she did it deliberately or not but it was clear that for years, he had to play the role of a reluctant watchdog, growling and chasing away crooks around her. Lev in fact did it for the greater good . Having a women in a combat unit was a bad idea because sooner or later, jealousy would undermine the solidarity between men and men so it would be better if no one could have Miska for himself. Moreover, Lev felt worried about his friend who was only half his age. Although outside she seems confident, optimistic, sometimes somewhat reckless but still a young girl after all. Somehow, Lev always had the feeling that the outward appearance was just paper shields that Miska set up to cover up a fragile soul. Although it was only his speculation, prevention was better than cure.

"You always have an aversion to Dyor."

"He talked too much and it made my head hurt."

"Doesn't it mean you hate me too? When I was a kid, my friends said I was the mouthful one. But as you can see, I never talked too much, i just say things that I need to say and tell jokes. Tanya was a mouthful one. You haven't met her, have you? Of course not, she moved to Tula with the family when I was fifteen and eventually end up with a wood merchant in the east. Last year she called me and lamented about everything. She said life in the countryside bore her, her husband went out all day to leave her at home alone. Poor girl, She had to go to town on foot to buy food every week because the road was so bad that no cars can ... "

Lev kept letting Miska talked on and on as usual. At home, his wife was also fond of this habbit. It seem like instinct did not allow women to remain silent for too long.

"Well, so I didn't .."Miska paused as she saw the amusement on Lev's face, her cheeks turned red "I just say ... too much again."

"No" Lev shook his head "Not at all."

After eating three plates of roasted peanuts and drinking the entire bottle of wine, the two left the bar. It was close to mid-night, roadside shops were closed, visitors were walking away, and soon they found themselves were only souls left on the wide avenue. Lev looked around for a taxi but none could be seen right now.

"We can walk." Miska suggested.

"And that gonna be a very long one, our hotel is on the other side of the river."

"Is that your excuse? Come on."

If it was a normal day, two kilometers was not a problem to Lev but if anyone had a chance to spend the whole day with Miska, then they would understand his hesitance. His knees were tired and his hips ached. She walked as if running. When Lev took a step, she had already taken two or three. He couldn't understand where Miska got the hell of stamina from and even now, she didn't show any signs of fatigue.

"Maybe I'm getting old Miska, my heart need a new piston " Lev said

"Citing Sholokhov again?" Miska frowned, "I have to be honest with you that I'm not a fan of his work at all."

"Why? "

"They only always have sad endings and that is the reason why I don't like them? Aksinia died on the hand of Gergori, Andrey Solokov got fired, lost all of his children, his wife and even his godamn truck. Isn't an happy ending with everyone still alive would be more perfect? "

"He is a realistic writers not writing children books. Our life is reflected in what he wrote. "

"I tell you that there is nothing interesting about reading other people's sad stories. Let say if I got a cut on my hand, should I read the story of a person who lost both his hand to find myself lucky? "

"Sometimes a sad ending is inevitable, Miska. Just like life. "

For a moment, Lev saw the fire burn in her green eyes.

_Is she angry? _

Until now, he had never witnessed Miska being angry, sad or mourning. Even in the most dangerous and depressing situation, the smile never faded on that lovely lips of her.

"If we have already known the outcome," she said with a tone so icy that could cause blood frozen. "What the hell are we fighting for?"

Then Miska turned around and trudged away, leaving Lev stood there dumbfounded, muttering to himself that why he was so stupid.

_Oh my God ! What have I just done? _

Lev hurriedly followed her in remorse and confusion. He had made a girl mad at him and didn't know how to handle it. Of course, he did knew some tricks to ease the storm in the girls' hearts, but that was the story of twenty-two years ago, when Lev was still young man and was pursuing his wife. Now, he was just an old man with wrinkles on his forehead and wounds in heart that never healed.

"Maybe I will go to the aquarium tomorrow with you." After rummaging through his memories, Lev thought that this was the best way "Or go hinking if you like."

Miska didn't answer, her hand was put into the pockets and her eyes fixed on the empty road ahead where street lamps illuminated their pale yellow light on the half old, half new houses. Some houses in the city were built in pre-war, Hoang told him, but some might be older and even him didn't their actual age.

"Or we can go to see the water puppet show. Hoang told me that if I didn't watch it, it would be a waste." He saw a paper on the wall opposite the hotel this morning. A colorful poster with five dolls in traditional clothes standing hand in hand and because the advertisement only encapsulates the three big yellow words "PUPPET IN WATER" without any further explanation, so at first he did not understand what this show really was. Were they going to swim and control puppets at the same time? If that was the case, Lev also hopes to witness for once.

Miska was always interested in weird things. When they were in the north, she demanded to see a thing called "Opera on the river" and insisted on him came along. It was a mistake, he did not understand the Vietnamese was bad enough but getting suck in a crowd of people on the river bank was even more terrible experience, especially for a man like Lev. The sound of people laughing and talking, eulogies from the orchestra and high female vocal ranges made him want to go mad.

"Has anyone told you that you are bad at consolation, Captain?" Miska asked, half of her excitement returned "it maybe rude of me to say this, Lev but I really feel sorry for your woman."

"She get used to it already" Lev had a wide smile. "Every time I cried, my father gave me some beating so terrible that I had to stop crying if didn't want to die. God, the old man's slaps hurt like hell. The military was worse, their kind of comfort can make me actually died. "

"Is Tataya alright? "

Lev had taken Miska home to meet his wife several times and since then the two acted as if they were some kind of long lost sister. Indeed, despite the difference in age, his wife and Miska looked like sibling. Soft brown hair, amber eyes, talking non-stop about women stuffs and humming the tune of Million Roses when making cake. Coincidentally, they were both from St. Petersburg. He was also glad that Tatanya has a fellow countrywoman to talk with, Ryzan was too empty and remote for a lady of old capital.

"She is doing fine, she just bought back a piano from second hand shop, you know? The next time you visit, you will have chance to enjoy the works of Bach and Mozart. "

"You are so lucky to have her, a house, a place to go back. "

There was something tormented in that sentence , like an old wound suddenly leaked blood. Lev suddenly realize that he did not know anything about the civil life of his colleague. Miska didn't mention much about the time before joining the army. She was the only child of a middle income from , moderate grade in high school but exellent at physical ativities, those he knew for sure because her personal file were very detail on it, but there were some strange things. Miska's mother name was Antonia Benzi while her last name was Galkin, and the place where her father's name should be filled was a blank. Lev guessed it was possible that Miska was an adopted child, but often adopted children took the last name of the family took them in. Beside that, everything was blurry. When it was time for the vacation, Miska always returned to St. Petersburg for several days and returned but ...

"What about you?" It seemed like it was a good time for Lev to be a nosy.

When Lev finished speaking, Miska suddenly turned around and put a finger on his lips, as soft as a kiss.

"Shhh ..." She whispered. "Women always have their own secrets."

The girl smiled wryly and then continue to walk indifferently, the space was filled with giggle as her shoes pounding on the sidewalk. Lev stood still, feeling the heat on his lips melt into the cold. Somehow, he felt very comfortable.

"Is that a kiss?" He asked in confusion.

"What?" Miska called back. She had already been way ahead of him with her ridiculous speed "I can't hear you."

"Nothing!" He said louder "You looks much more charming from behind. "

Miska gave a bright smile:

"I will officially withdraw my comment earlier. You really aren't that bad, Lev. "

" Thank you" Lev said.

_Like a daisies growing in the wild as she always is_

* * *

In the early of the morning, Lev was waked by the sound of the phone ringing. The Russian captain got off bed and got grumpy a bit because as he remember, I didn't order a wake-up call yesterday. At the other end of the line, the receptionist tried to explain to Lev in a broken language that she called Russian that a man named Anton wanted to meet him in the lobby. Due to the hotel's regulations not allowing her to reveal the number of guests' rooms, Lev had to drag his butt down to the ground floor and meet that Anton guy face to face. He, to be honest, was not surprised as he saw Dimitri Dimitrov down there, standing with his back against the counter and a black suitcase at his feet. Dimitri's hair had been as grey as autumn sea since they first knew each other in Chechnya, and that how he got the nickname "old man" from other comrades in 314th infantry batalion. After fifteen years, his hair didn't change much, only the face now looked like a real old man.

Lev invited his old friend to have breakfast because Dimitri said he had nothing left in his stomach since yesterday noon. They finished all six smoked sausages, four fried eggs and two delicious apple pie before going into the main business. The conversation started with the swing that Lev gave him in his wedding day as a gift, somehow, every time they met, that damn swing always appeared. The old friend was very pleased heard his gift had been just added a new layer of oil to prevent termite last month. Dimitri then started talking about Tataya and the close friendship between him and his family. Listen to it, Lev immediately interrupted.

"I still don't understand what you mean, Dimitri. Why are you here?"

Dimitri Dimitrov was silent for a moment and put the cigarette on his lips, two fingertips on his right hand almost turned yellow

"OKP-1 has for a long time been long under the influence of Federal Security Service and the Federal Security Service only obey and received orders directly from the Kremlin. Any mission carried out by OKP-1 is at the highest level of security. "He said, the smoke lurked around him had the smell of roasted coffee." Lev, I have been acquainted with you for a long time, your wife is also very fond of me and I was even the godfather of your child so what I'm going to say here you should listen carefully. "

"Alright, Alright I'm listening." He nodded but couldn't help giggling "Let's see how serious it is that you have to come here yourselves."

"Tomorrow, they will contact you."

"They? Federal Security Service?" That did surprised Lev. They had never made a direct contact with him or any other member of the unit. According to the procedure, Lieutenant General Adrey Chenko would received the order directly, then order went to commanding staffs of OKP-1 before delivered to Lev.

"Who else do you think of?" Dimitri said indifferently. "That's why I'm here, old friend."

"Are you my contact?" Lev asked even though he did not think he was.

"No. We don't have this conversation. Remember that well." The gray hair man chucked "For the record, I didn't plan to come here. I'm on my way from Peru to Russia, Da nang is the first transit point. At the airport I got the in the wind so I took the opportunity to find you before they come."

"How do you know..." Lev paused. He picked up the glass of lemonade and took a sip_. Sweet like candy,_ too much sugar to his taste. " Forget it, man. Say what you must."

It was best not to be curious about why Dimitri knows his colleague would be here tomorrow as well as how he knews he sleeps at this hotel. The trip to Da Nang was completely spontaneous. Miska was the one who made this odd suggestion to the 2nd Vietnamese army corps commander and the way they responded was equally strange. Within four days, Lev and Miska and the translator Hoang could freely explore Da Nang and rest at the most luxurious hotel in the city.

The task of training and introducing new weapons for Vietnamese special forces suddenly turned into an excursion trip. Honestly, Lev felt extremely embarrassed about this and almost refused to go if not for Miska's stubbornness

"As I said, they will come to see you tomorrow." Dimitri said, "Those clown guys will call themselves Olga or Shasha, every time I go undercovere I use the name Shasha. But it doesn't matter now, what I want to say here is their purpose. They come to offer you a mission and it is extremely dangerous."

Wrong choice of word. The FSB, or in he rather said the Kremlin never offered, they commanded.

"Extremely dangerous?" Lev repeated with a smile on his lips, but Dimitri's serious gaze shut it down right away "How dangerous is it?"

"Dangerous and deadly" Dimitri rubs a cigarette into the ashtray "It's the nature of the world we live right? Yours and mine. But this time it's different. Have you ever heard of the name of Sankai?"

"Never have the plessure" Lev shook his head "It sounds like Japanese. Name of someone or a location?"

"A hot spring located in Hakone, Tokyo. A normal place with no tatical value before the FSB decides to raid it in about four months ago. Military style of course with the best of Alpha Team. "

Raiding a hot spring right in the middle of the Japanese capital, an nation that signed Mutual Treaty with America !? Lev did not know what the hell the Kremlin was thinking to act like that. And more importantly, what were their goals?

"Can you guess the result? Our twenty operator went into that cursed hot spring and no one came out.

Alpha teams of FSB are better than any other unit in Specnaz. The selection conditions were very strict and the training was so extreme that the number of Alpha member died in combat was lower than in the training. The FSB only needs disciplined killing machines, not some random thugs. If the person who was telling the story wasn't Dimitri, then Lev would immediately consider it as gossip. It was hard to believe a notorious force such as Alpha got ambushed by the Japanese so bad that none of them could even escape.

"Well it have been a while since my last rescue mission and suicidal one." Lev sighed at the possible propect of him soon joining his comrades in captivity "But at least, the Japanese wouldn't treat prisoner badly like the Chechen separatist did."

"There wont be a rescue mission, Lev." Dimitri bitterly shook his head. "They're all dead."

"Dead?"

"That's right. Dead or missing. I know this sounds unbelievable but it's the truth."

The Lev face then turned dark. He had vaguely figured out why the two FSB agents came to see him tomorrow. Of all the precious virtures of the FSB, the guts to accomplish the mission despite casualties was always outstanding.

"Now I understand why you use the word "dangerous" , Dimitri." Said Lev, his voice was low as things got serious "Do you want me to disobey orders?"

"They are not your superior. OKP-1 is still under the control of the military, not the FSB. For the love of God Lev, please do not do this. It is not the same as when we were in Chechnya or Ukraine. Hakone had just forced the FSB to take action to restore its honor. Of course they would act, an impulsive act and only God know if you are about to become a scarifice or not. "

Lev knit his hands together, his eyes looking up at the ceiling. What to do now? Dimitri perfectly had areason to tell him to turn it down because it was clear as day that he would likely add his name into death list while Tatanya at home must stand in line to receive subsidy every month. But could he refuse? Rejecting the FSB means rejecting the Kremlin's order, rejecting the request from the head of the government. It was only a matter of time before he was expelled from the army, his bank account was frozen and they got sue for some stupid crime.

"The coffee here is pretty good." Lev had had his final decision. "You should also try a cup before you go."

"Looks like ... I just come here for nothing," Dimitri said in disappointment. He then stood up, "I have to go now, goodbye."

"Is that all?" Lev laughed "A dead man would be mor convincing better than you was, Dimitri."

"I know how stubborn you are, Lev. I seem I cant change your mind but I wish you luck anyway."

"I was born lucky." Lev pointed to the scar near the temple. A long incision from the ear to the nape "How many people have shrapnel plugged into their heads and still alive?"

"Some bastards are hard to kill than others" He laughed except "Send my greetings to Miska."

"I will but I warn you she wont be happy to know you here and not deliver it yourself ."

Lev accompanied Dimitri to the hotel gate. He asked the receptionist to call a taxi so that the two could have more time to chit chat before the car took Dimitri to the airport. When being asked if he intended to let Miska join the next mission, Lev laughed and replied that if he didn't do that, he would get killed by her.

"It seems our little girl is getting more fierce than ever before."

"But not wiser," Lev said. "She's like a wild horse racing with her shadow."

"Never compare women with horses, Lev. God, after all these year and you are still that dull?" Dimitri laughed as he sat on the back seat "I feel sorry for Tatanya for marrying someone like you."

"This isnt the first time I hear that." He said and closed the car door.

Throughout the day, he took Miska to visit the aquarium and the five idyllic temples as promised. Since Lev decided not to mention anything happened in this morning, their little trip went on in peace, except for an unfortunate incident; A local man violently snatched her Dior handbag at the foot of the mountain. Even when wearing a skirt, Miska's fist was also terribly strong, enough to send the poor bastard straight to the hospital on a stretcher. Fortunately for them, their interpreter ,Hoang was also present at the scene, so the two of them wouldn't go to the police station to explain why a man had just been beaten half dead. It wasn't a easy task to begin with because Lev saw a lot of non- stop talking, hand waving, finger pointing were exchange between Hoang and two policemen in green uniform.

"The police agreed to let we go." Hoang returned to them after a long argument, sweat was on his forehead "The hospital say the guy is not dead so I told them the denfence ministry could handle paper work for us ."

"Do you really need to do that?" Frustrated Lev scold at her "He just tried to steal a handbag."

"A handbag?" The young girl raised her voice. "Dior's 203 silver calf leather model with limited numer. Do you know how much I have to pay and how long I have to wait to get my hand on one? A woman has just been attacked and you two turn to defend the criminal. What the hell wrong with you guys? "

Then she walked away in rage, leaving Lev and Hoang stood there staring at each other.

"Women." Lev chuckled and shook his head. "

"She will cool down soon." Hoang smiled "All you need to do is begging her for forgiveness, Captain."

"That responsibility belongs to her boyfriend." He immediately pressed on that matter. The rumor that he and Miska were a couple was spread all over OKP-1 for a while now, though Lev found every ways possible to stop it. They whispered to each other from the barracks to the pub, even Lev's superior knew the story. And things get worse when he receives countless praise than disgusting snorts. "Do you want to take that responsibility?"

"I ... No, sir. You are ..." He was too scared to finish

"Her commanding officer. That's right and we will never talk about this subject again. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, now I want you to call Taxi. It is time to leave this damn place."

The panicked young man nodded, rushing down the stairs leading down the hill. Each time he looked at Hoang, Lev could see nothing but a panicked mouse in the corner of the kitchen. He was afraid of his loud voice, afraid of Miska's freakishness and almost afraid of everything.

After finishing high school, Hoang went to the city to attend college dream like many other young people, but his happy days lasted only one and a half years. His father at home threw family fortune into a risky business before threw aways his son's educational path. Hoang went to Russia as export labor after being adviced by relatives. There are many ways to do that and he was surprised when Hoang chose to do it illegally. The nineteen-year-old boy arrived in the Siberia in June on a small truck with only clothes on his back, living in a even smaller room and working for an illegal sewing factory in the basement. His life could have continuted like thay for years to come if it wasn't for two fellow thieves taking pity on him.

They shared with him every pork thighs, can of vegetable, strawberry jars stolen from the supermarket nearby and almost shared the prison sentence. He received a three-month public service at the nursing home where Tatanya worked then became a offical employee there. When Lev told his wife that he would go to Vietnam for a few weeks, she introduced Hoàng to him. Despite being small and thin, Hoang also proved to be active and agile.

It was sunset when they arrived at the hotel with their knees tired and their faces covered with sunburn. After dinner, Lev immediately went into bed and fell asleep. That night, he had a weirdest dream ever. In the dream, Miska was a brown fox, he was a bear and Hoàng was a goat with a broken horn. They were in the middle of a forest, facing a ghostly creature with body seemed to be made of mist and jaw made of steel lurking in the darkness that surrounded them.

_Was it some kind of big cat?_ he thought to himself but then immediately changed his mind when he heard the shiverling howl ripped through the night. And at the moment that creature was charging at them with terrified ferocity, he awaked, sweating on his bed.

The dream distracted him all morning. It was strange that Lev could not get it off his head. At noon, two FSB agents posing as tourists also appeared as Dimitri foretold. One of the two was as big as a bull with a shiny bald head and a rough ugly face, Lev was not sure if he could beated this guy in hand-to-hand combat although he didn't do so badly at fist fight. The other one was more graceful but his slanted eyes made him feel more unconfortable than ever. They sat down at the table that he and Dimitri had had sat yesterday.

"You agree ?" The slanted eyes man that claimed himself as Maron asked in surprise.

"Of course I agree. I'm happy to accept this assignment." Lev found himself a little careless because he agreed so quickly, Maron would definitely pay attention to his attitude and asked questions. "It is really boring sitting in a place."

"We appreciate your spirit and skills." Maron gave a glare to the his companion. The bull nodded and reached his hand into the pocket and took out a USB . "Everything you need to know are in here. The information is not encrypted so you have to destroy it after reading and remember not to make any copies. Got it? "

"I got it." Said Lev "Is there anything else?"

Three of them discussed for another hour, mainly he and Maron did all the talking because the big guy just sat silently on the chair like a statue. The slanted eyes man said Lev was entitled to choose two or three person he felt suitable to join the team but the final decision still belonged to Federal Security Service. Lev immediately nominated Miska, and Yurin, two veterans of OKP-1 without encountering any opposition or question from him. Maybe Maron had already known Lev's choice before coming here.

"The remaining members will be recruited by the General Department under the advice of the special committee so you don't need to worry about the quality of the team." Maron explained, "However, since this is not a military campaign, you absolutely have to follow to absolute orders and instructions from the Host."

"The Host ?"

"Local agents, informants, the middlemen, or local intelligence officers. You can use any name you want to, but we prefer to call him the Host for convenience. The Host is the one who get order from Moscow and directly command you in Japan. As we had said before, we do not go into special region to fight but to build relationships with the people of the new world, establish connection with them, study them. The Japanese had laid their foundation in the Special Zone and sooner or later Americans would do the same. Russia can not be left out of this but in the order to do it, our personnel had to get to the Imperial capital safely and that's your duty. "

"I understand. Honestly, I'm glad that I am not in charge this time. You know, espionage are not suit me well anyway, it's best to let the professional do their jobs."

This was completely true. Lev could see himself as a terrible spy. He hates lying, betrayal and fragile boundaries between friend and enemy in the spy life. Didn't Dimitri once complain to him that he nearly lost faith in the people he met no matter how pleasant or friendly they were? It is impossible to know whether the person in front of you was on your side or the enemy's side or both, so trusting someone was like signing a death sentence.

"I'm just a man who shoot better than others."

Maron smiled at Lev's sincerity. "Very well, Captain. Everything is almost done."

_Almost? What does he mean by that? _ Lev wondered. The departure time, goals, personnel and command structure has been agreed, what else to be discussed?

A few minutes after Maron and the team break away, Lev enters the elevator and goes straight to Miska's room. Now was the time to tell her everything. Contrary to Lev's expectations, she just sat silently in bed, listened intently to everything he said about Dimitri, Maron, the big guy, Hakone and the deadly mission they were about to get into.

"When will we start?" Miska went to the closet and pulled out the big suitcase "Tomorrow?"

Lev saw that as the 'Yes' answer. "Tonight. They have already booked us a flight to Vladivostok, but we have something to do first before we go to the airport."

"What's it?" Miska put a white shirt into the suitcase. "Hope there's enough time to say goodbye to Hoang. He helps us too much."

"Actually ..." Lev rub his head "It have something to do with him."


	8. Pina II

**Sorry for the late updated. My back was killing me for several weeks. Damn it hurt like hell. Anyway, next chapters will not be updated soon because they are longer than usual and my work are a little bit tense right** **now**

The daybreak light from the horizon shines through the fog hugging the capital as a lover.

"Good morning, your highness" The voice of Ere, the maid of Pina, speaking softly from behind the velvet curtain

"Hello" Pina replied. She stood outside the balcony, wearing only a long nightgown of milk. Below her, the largest city of Falmat, Son Augustus' pride of pride began to wake up. Somewhere, she heard a hammering sound and a small column of black smoke rising west of Zirck district, followed by dozens of smoke columns and the chord of steel began.

In the morning, as usual, the city often brought on itself a rich aroma from Junker Street, where the bakeries, meat stalls and spice markets stood close to each other, ready to serve hungry costumers who had copper, silver coins in their pocket. But thanks to the blockade order, Pina could only smell the burnt coal and beef fat. The forging factories were almost unaffected at all and even more bustling than ever before because the Crown Prince wanted four thousand more sets of armor, eight thousand spears, and tens of thousands of arrow heads by the end of this week.

"Breakfast is ready, princess." Ere said "Boiled eggs, bacon and red grapes. Your favorite appertie."

"Red grapes?" If Pina remembers correctly, It wasn't the season for red grapes "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, your highness. It is definitely a red grape. I saw it with my own eyes when it was carried through the palace gate on the cart. At first, I was a bit surprised because I knew the grape harvest had passed a long time ago but the Colbian, the cook told me that this grape did not grow on our land, they come from Japan. "

So the mystery has been solved. Pina didn't know if it's a grape season in Japan or not, but after all the miracles she had witnessed they performed, forcing fruits growing out of the season would be as easy as taking things in a bag to them.

Sitting at the end of the table, Pina's stomach boils. She spread butter on bread then swallowed with a small piece of meat. But when she broke the second egg, she had no stomach to eat anymore. A bloody chick came out of the egg through the crack, falling straight down into the silver tray.

"Ere, throw this away." Pina ordered "And bring me some wine."

a wine pot was brought up. It had a spicy and acrid, sweet taste. "Your Clothes are ready, princess." The maid said "Do you want green enamel armor or chainmail?"

"I'm not with the Knights today. Get me the Palla."

(The palla was a woven rectangle made of wool that the matron put on on top of her stola when she went outside. She could use the palla in many ways, like a modern scarf, but palla is often translated as a cloak. A palla was like a toga, which was another woven, not sewn, expanse of cloth that could be pulled over the head. )

A day after the ceremony, Zorzal summoned Pina to the court and announced that she had been appointed as the new governor of the capital city, in place of Faring who had just been removed from office three days ago. The man was brave enough to oppose the blockade of the city and foolish enough to do it on the floor of the senate.

Standing in front of the throne that once belonged to her father, in the room she had been in for hundreds of times, Pina felt strange. To her right was podigal boys of Giffin's March who just returned home from Japanese prison. They looked at her with eyes that were half-contemptuous. _I should have let them die in the bones there_. Fabio Marak with a half-smile on his lip and roses on his colorful suit slightly bowed to her while his cousins giggled to that. Standing near the ladder was Halon, Master of Coin, a sixty-year-old man with tracheal disease, coughing so hard that people would think he was about to die at where he stood. Zorzal decided to keep Halon behind. Perhaps her brother thought an old man who had already stepped one step into the grave would cause no harm to him.

She also saw many other mirrors: Soren, Zorzal's best friend and his sullen brother, Anthony's ebony hairstyle with a cape, Veserny the Handsome sat on the step below the throne, a golden hilt Galdius lied on his lap, his face was like a young hero on the reliefs at Jade Palace and ... Tyuule. The former rabbit queen stood next to the treasure, the bells ringing sweet melody in every movement of her. Since Zorzal came to power, the frequency of Tyuule appearance had been increased considerablely. In the past, Pina had only met her a few times in front of her brother's place but now, she was everywhere. Almost Zoral brought his pet everywhere he went.

Ere helped her change her clothes. Palla of aristocratic women was always fussy, so it could not worn by onself. Tightening the belt and installing the buttons was easy part, but it was extremely difficult for Pina to tie all the string on the back by herself. This was the outfit she wears when she arrived at Japan month ago. For convenience, she and Bonze took turns dressing each other.

"You should order a new suit, your highness. This is too old." She had a collection of evening gowns, Stola and many set of armor but only one Palla. Pina doubted that there would be a day she was given a small position of power , let alone put her butt on the seat of the Capital Governor. Having been allowed to practice swordplay by her father and having a private order of knight was too lenient.

"There is no time to get a new one" Said Pina "And I am not planning to be a public bird in the meeting room."

"I'll call the tailor tonight." Ere corrected the robe on her shoulder. "And even the silversmith, please forgive me for speaking out of tone but your collar is even worse than your Palla. You are a princess and not a cow."

Pina couldn't help laughing at that statement. Even a laundromat's daughter also pouted when she saw the thing wrapped around her neck. That gorgeous gold bracelet with twelve oversized rubies always made her neck ache. Many times she also tried to throw it away but then gave up because it was a birthday gift of the Emperor anyway. Her father was very knowledgeable in many things, but his aesthetic sensitivity was really bad.

"Do you need a guard?" Ere asked "Should I send a word to Grey or someone else?"

"No and you don't need to follow me either. The Governor's job is quite boring and Farring's servants still remain at the his quarter "

In fact, it has become much more stressful when residents start starving, the emperor was sick, robbing and stabbing slowly became part and parcel of Sadera capital while thieves are as crowded as mice. _I should have turned down this godamn_ _position at first_. She almost succeeded at that if not for the bastard Soren and his rotten mouth.

"The Rose Knights have proven that they are not some fancy collection of damsel and weeping boy" he said, "Princess Pina is the only one who can sustain the Emperor's peace in the present moment."

The capital council room is located south of the palace, next to the royal garden and opposite the arena. This area was nearly considered to be outside the royal keep , so the number of guards was low and no one wore purple robes (only the emperor guards will wear purple robes). This will cause Pina a lot of trouble. Zorzal had not been able to control the Royal Guards, despite having Boros fired. They were loyal warriors to her father all the time while each of the guards here could be the ears and eyes sent by Zorzal to monitor her movement. It was this fear that drove Pina to use Mizari as a pigeon instead of Bonze or Panache. How many people would suspect a Harpy girl when the best thing she could ever do was to get drunk and spread her legs?

When the large and thick wooden room door of council room opened, Pina noticed three men waiting around the large table. Hermish, commander of the city watch with his left leg was longer than the right leg, standing with one hand placing on the edge of the table in the black protrusive black Gamberson. He was really a beggar at the party because the other two were so impressive in term of clothes, hair and perfume. The Toga of Loren El Deconte was as gray as the autumn sea, bronze brooches buttons with eagle sigil. Dimits Noharis was somewhat simpler, but Pina wonders if a person who looks after the sewage system of the capital really needs to wear so many rings?

"We are honored by the presence of you, Princess." Loren bowed and kissed her hand. "Yesterday, I was worried that they would let one of the Giffin's March brothers sit on the governor's seat.

Did Zorzal kick out his uncle or grandfather? El Deconte was an old and pround family in the Empire with dozens of small branches. There were too many El Deconte in government body that people said that Anthony El Deconte would be smiling in the after life, seeing his deed had paid off so well.

"A bunch of enthusiastic but inexperienced young fellow." Hermish judged "I know Mr. Ranov of Giffin's March. We used to fight side by side in the battle of Carenhall. A good man but married to a bad wife."

How old was she when the Water Well battle took place? Probably two or three, Zorzal was four, and Dialo was still a infant. Gray was also at Carenhall like Hermish but as a promising twenty-three-year-old knight while Hermish was in his forties. She Hoped the old commander did not die of a heart attack during her time in office.

"That's enough courtersy for the moment." Pina said, trying to sound royalty "We still have a city to govern, gentlement"

"We are here to serve you, Princess" The three sat down simultaneously. Somehow she had an intense feeling that she did not belong here, with these men.

"As the man in charge of city's commercial matter, I think I should be the first one to report" Loren smirked and opened his thick leather book. "Sorry to announce that the tax revenue is reduced by more than half."

" Why ?" Hermish asked, "As far as I remember, the taxes did not change for years. Even when we advanced through the Gate, the Emperor did not raise taxes and the people were very pleased. Why they did not submit ? "

"Because they have no ability to pay their taxes anymore." Pina said. Is Hermish blind or is he just too stupid?

"Since the city was blocked, exporting goods of the capital is getting fewer day by day and even fewer products from the outside can go throught the gates. No need to say how this have devastating effect on local commerce or any kind of trading that we know. Things like dyes, jewelry, fabrics, brocades, olive oil we are full of but wheat is not plenty at the moment. Now a sack of wheat is worth the equivalent of seven or nine Drechma and soon, wealthy ladies must sell their diamonds to have a grain of wheat. the imperial coin is losing its value because as you are well awared that people cannot eat gold or silver to live. The situation demand people to use all the money they have to store as much food as they can. Good for them but bad for us because we have no coin to collect neither collect taxes by food. "

"Just collect what they have." Hermish suggested "Now bread instead of coin until the situation is improved"

"That wont do any good" Dimits shook his head "The blockade is only temporary, who knows whether it will be in effect or not within the next few months. If we act foolishly, mold bread will be piled up in the warehouse and there will be a giant hole in city's budget "

"Well ... that's hard" He turned to Pina, asking for advice "What does you want us to do, Princess?"

"Temporarily, just put aside the tax matter" Pina said, "It is very clear there is no better way to slove this problem is lifting the blockade and you know what happens to the Farring right?" Zorzal would not dismiss her but he would ignore her while names like Fabio Marak, Veserny, and Anthony had a chance to laugh at her face. "Now let's talk about something else. I ordered Bozes to recruit more soldiers to join the city watch. Hermish, how do you do?"

"It's not too bad to be said, princess." The ludicrous commander scratched his smooth chin. "Most of the new recruits lacked combat skills, some even didn't know how to count to twenty but overall they did used some kind of weapon before. "

_And How it was not too bad!?_ Pina have no idea what was wrong with her City Watch commander anymore

"Is a kitchen knife considered as a weapon now?" Pina glowed "They have to be trained with sword, spear and shield, do you understand me?"

" Yes Of course! Three weeks is enough."

"Two," she corrected him. If necessary, she would send Gray or Penache to support Hermish "Mr. Loren will take care of the pay."

"Can the city budget afford them?" Dimits asked "We already have three thousand men to pay, am I wrong."

"Right now wouldn't be a matter but not for long. How many people you have Lord Hermish?"

"About one thousand." The commander chucked "I have eliminated the boys and the old man."

The meeting lasted until noon with Pina's boredom and Loren's smirking giggle overshadowed every subject they brought up . Dimits Doharis talking non-stop about the necessity of dredging sewers as well as building new ones in place of those had collapsed or been heavily damaged. Loren repeatedly shook his head, claiming that they had no money for such task. Hermish fell asleep during the argument, the old man only waked up when one of them raised their voices but then went back to sleep

"At least, there must be a way to stop those damn moles." The glamorous aristocrat said, "Those tunnels will cause subsidence to the ground above. Imagining an entire house or block of buildings buried into the ground after a heavy mid- night rain. I would be a disaster that we cannot afford"

"Moles?" Pina was surprised by that "Little creature like them cant cause such thing."

"Smugglers, princess. They dig tunnels that lead to rivers bank to transport goods. I asked Lord Hermish to send people down there to drive them out several time, but still he did nothing."

"There are hundreds of secret passageways, tunnels are just big enough for a dwarf, and all sorts of only Hardy know what they are. What do you want me to do?" The commander of city watch raised his voice at Dimits "My people just didn't know the way wasn't the worst thing, they had to find the enemies in the dark and for the reccord, smugglers werent unarmed. They are equipped to the teethand fight like wounding beast. I lost twenty-seven men last time and If you still want to destroy those tunnels, you can do it yourself, but like I have said before they will dig some more sooner or later fasster "

"Akusho is the headquarter of smugglers and criminal in general. I think it's time for us to cut the head of the snake." Loren suggested "What do you think, your Highness?"

"I think it is going to be a waste. Many men who were greater than you and I had tried and fail"

Akusho is the refuge of criminals, prostitutes, slave owners and those hated by the Empire. No one knewsexactly when Akusho slum was established, but it was clear as day that dozens of generations have been born and died under the shadow of shabby buildings with roof just waiting to collapse, surrounded by the smell of feces and urine. Sadera went through six sieges, two big fires and his suffered countless floods. Many great temples and palaces were nothing now except rubble but somehow, Akusho still survived despite all the odd.

"They would lay low or run away if we rush in with a large number of troops" Hermish said "And If you send too little men, then ... a massacre " He then turned to Loren. "Speaking of Akusho, Who are in charge now?"

"The Gonzori, Medusa, Paramount and Bessara families. Well, My mistake, Bessara was killed months ago, the remaining three families are dividing his territory." Loren picked up a fig from the plate on the table and chewed. "It is still unclear who killed and why. Some said that Gonzori joint force with Medusa to take him out, but some said his death have something to do with men in green."

"Why did they involved in this ?" Hermish chuckled. "Don't tell me those people was trying to get into pleasure business and gambling."

" I have no idea" Loren shrugged his shoulders " Only Hardy know what men do in Akusho."

Akusho. Japanese. Pina suddenly remembered that she had forgotten something extremely important. It had been three days and there was still no news from Mizari!

.

.

* * *

"Then i picked up the stick and hit the horseman on the hip. He had just come out from the brothel, wearing only a dirty yellow loincloth covering his lower body, so the round head stick of mine was no different from a mace. The beastman who they called the Sazkos the Terror immediately pulled out his sword and slashed it down at me but I was faster than him. "Gray took another sip of wine before continuing. " Such a good wine, your highness. Things they sell at the tarven are like horse piss compared to this. Anyways, back to the story, with luck I stepped aside to avoid the blade then thrushed the stick right into his right eye. If that Sazkos is still alive right now, people would call him the Sazkos One Eye for sure. "

" Or Sazkos one- eye - Dragon." Pina smiled "

"No, no." The old man shook his head. "He is a stinking boar. How could a pig take the name of a dragon. When I was young, my friends advised me to find a good nickname for myself. I did tried and came up with some. First was Knight of Cannels as you know that I was born at Aquaticus, then Giant Killers, the Gallant, Handsome. The Knight of Cannels sounds so trivial while Giant Killer, the gods couldn't take a name like Giant Killer. It is true that i had fought against bigger, stronger men than me but they had never been considered as giants. Gallant and Handsome? It's ridiculous, why does a knight need to be be pretty when what makes him worthy is his sword? In the end, I decided that only Ser Gray would get the job done. "

Ten years ago, he had given Bozes and more than a dozen other daughters something to think of every nights. There was one thing that Pina was sure was that Grey didn't realize he had a good-looking face, white teeth and the body of a god. How would her mentor react when he found out half of the people who attended the training that year only to see his smile and his brawny chest under the sweaty tunics?

They are sitting in the private quarter of the Capital Governor, the room was located in the Queen Tower, the second highest tower in the palace. A lunch for a princess and a Governer was served. Caviar, stuffed meat, honey cake and spicy wine. After the last meeting, she was not in a good mood to swallow anything, so Gray had the opportunity to enjoy them. At first, Pina was about to invite Bozes but she was afraid the blond girl would bring her complain about the recruits to the dining table so Gray was called up instead. The old knight always had the naughty, adventurous stories in his pocket to share with her.

"Tell me, Gray." Pina excitedly said "Is there a knight passing by, admiring your bravery and taking you as a squire?"

"Oh my god, princess. If that was always the case then there would be a ton of appointed knights in the Empire." Gray burst out laughing."Actually, there was a knight who appeared but instead of putting the sword on my shoulders and speak words of honor and duty, he hit me with a sword hilt on the back of my neck. After that, I woke up in the prison, my mind whirling about what just happened. I tried to jerk the bars and screamed out for help. A scary looking gaoler appeared the beat me half dead. When I tried to ask him why I was here, he even hit me harder. Ten days of sleeping on the freezing cold floor, one meal a day, my body ached with the pain I had ever known, I thought I was going to die. By the eleventh day, that old knight showed up the cell. He looked at the me, laughing loudly and told me how stupid and unluck I was. It turned out that the man I saved with my out of place herorism was actually a wanted criminal and those were supposed to be villiants, that Horseman and Sazkos, were there to capture him.

Gray closed her eyes in remembrance, a happy smile formed around his mouth. "The punishment for my crime was thirty years of hard labor. Thirty years ! By the Gods, I was only a sixteen years old boy and thirty years sound like eternity. At that moment he asked me a question, a question that I would never forget 'I can help you get rid of that sentence on one condition. You have to be my servant from now on. Do you argee?"

"And what happens next?"

"Of course I agree. If not i might have died in a godforsaken mine in the North instead of sitting here."

"No, I mean what happened after that. "

Gray wiped the grease from his mouth with the back of his hand. "A good story takes time." His gray eyes became more serious. "I don't think the princess invites an old knight like me here just to tell old stories that happen before she was born. "

And yet it was common knowledge that Gray's wisdom lies only on the sword. "Can you take the book on the shelf for me? Yes, the one with red cover. Fourth row "

Gray slowly stood up and approached the bookshelf full of incubation. Pina's predecessor left behind lots of furniture and left in a hurry. Pina has a chest filled with miscellaneous items from gloves, glass jars, hairpins, pointy comedy to rags. A collection of a books, weather, construction and history of the ancient kingdoms with a telescope was so dim that she could see nothing at fifty feet. But what she needed was the General's ledger, which was nowhere to be seen.

Farring is a reputation of integrity, so it is difficult for him to hide something shady. But if that's true, where is he and the ledger both? Pina suddenly remembered that she had not met Farring since he was fired.

"This is not it?" Gray squinted cover "Philosophy thesis of Aporus the early of year to 452. If you are intend to hurt your head then I got a better way."

"Turn the last page go Gray , "She said. The knight obeyed.

"Oh this is ..." His eyes lit up. And what are the zigzag lines here? Holy God, they're underground tunnels! "Gray tap his hand on the map." You can build a city down there. How long does it take to dig through each other? "

" Ten years, one hundred or one thousand. "Pina plays the shoulder."This is an ancient city, people have time.

Gray put the opened book on the table. "What are you going to do with this?" He asked, his voice was cautious. "Although it is underground, Akusho is still risky to anyone, especially a member of royal family."

"I must do what I need to." Pina said, "When you met Mizari, did you convey my command correctly?"

"Every single word, Princess" Gray answered "I told her when she received the answer from Sugawara then headed back to Athenian Square where our men would be found waiting for her there. I even promised to double her wages. "

But now Mizari was still nowhere to be seen. It was wrong choice to give the money first. She should have paid only half, and gave the Harpy the rest after she had completed the task

Bozes's scratches echoed in her head "She'll throw the letter down the drain and spend all the money on wine." Or lying in some alley, flies whirled around and stinked, Pina thought briefly. A prostitute with money that big was hard to live long in Akusho.

"When you have news, send me a word. You can go now. "

" As you command, your Highness" The knight bowed then left.

Pina to spend the afternoon listening to constant complaints from trade guilds. They complained, pleaded, even didn't mind to show annoyence when she said she couldn't do anything to help them. Some merchants also told her the tragic story of a family who had to sell their children into slavery because it was impossible to feed them. Loren made the situation worse when he confirmed the rumor about the cannibalism in the morning was not a rumor.

"I will send your petition to the prince regent." At least there was something to report to her brother. Zorzal would be angry if she said out loud the trouble he was creating, but if she had nothing to say, he would assume she was not doing a good job.

Pina returned to her own room when the sun set on Vinus Hill. When Ere announced her hot bath was ready, from nowhere, Bozes burst into the room.

"She had returned, your Highness." Bozes said, panting, "Sugawara…. He agreed to meet you"

"When? Where? "

" Tonight. Japan Representative Office in Akusho. "

Sugawara was smart enough to understand outside slums was Zorzal territory. In this case, Farring's map would help her a lot. It would do no good for her to take the usual routes . Zorzal had sent at least one thousand soldier to set up a blockade around Askusho, all roads lead to the slum had been blocked down and were patrol by soldiers. A princess and the Commander of Rose knight wouldn't pass them smoothly.

"I agree. Go prepare Bozes. "

" I will gather the men."

But when Bozes was about to turn away, she stopped her.

"No, only me and you. Too many people will be noticed. "

"But…. "

"Do what I said "she ordered.

"Yes, I will princess."

When Bozes left, Pina went to the wooden wardrobe and took an old brown robe out of the shelf, which she had used in the time they sneaked out of the palace to watch the play called "The Hunter and Lady Rainbow" and drink until passed out with Panache.

She put on her cloak, pulled the hood over her head, covered half of her face and her red hair. "Who do I look like now?" Pina asked Ere.

"I don't ... know, princess.

"Good, another random traveler in the imperial capital. "

In the common room, Oris sat on a chair, sharpening his blade with a wet stone , candlelight dancing in his agate eyes. At the conner, Esona and Satin was playing some kind of game with dices on a small table. They were all in armor but seemed to be way more relaxed than they were supposed to . Pina guess that tonight might be the trio of the three and they were killing time while waiting for the others to return but there was something weird here. Three knights and there were four swords on the rack, Oris always carried an longsword on his back. So whose was it? Not Bozes, her sword hilt had the shape of a lion's head while this one was a hawk.

"Where's Panache?" Pina asked.

The answer to her question was the flushed and awkward face of Oris. The young knight placed the arming sword on his lap then winking at the bedroom. A soft moan echoed from the inside, accompanied by the sound of women giggling, Oris's face became even redder.

"Who's in the room, Oris?"

"Pana ... Panache, princess" Oris faltered. The young man looked down and avoided her next question by sharpening his sword again.

"With her new friend." Satin, the lazy Akandale knight threw the dice on the table. "Six! You need twelve more points to win. "

" I know. "Esona mumbled," I used to play this before. "

"But not long enough to win against me, girl. ". The moan resounded, this time was louder than the previous one and without a dout, it was Panache's voice. Now even Pina was getting hot, "By the love of Gods, why are you so lucky?"

"Who allowed you to bring strangers here?" Pina gave a glare at Oris "Does this place look like a brothel? "

"We don't dare do such thing, your highness." Oris interrupted. "Commander Bozes led her here and told us to watch her while she was out. Later, Captain Panache returned from the headquarter of City Watch. The captain told her something related to red berries and grapes, I didn't understand anything, then the two went to the room and ... "

"Exploring caves and finding treasure. "Satin burst out laughing" That's the knight's standard word for such activity, boy. "

_Shit! Don't tell me that ... .. _

The door opened, a slender figure appeared. Blond hair flowed to her waist and snow-white giant wings looming behind her back. _It's her. Godamn it! _

"Mizari," Pina said curtly, "What are you doing here?"

"Doing the job you gave me, what else could it be?"

Pina was angry. She was gone without a word for three days and returned here with an insolent attitude. She should have let Bozes teach her a lesson.

_Once they are not afraid, they will never treat you like a true monarch_

Mizari looked not so different since Pina last saw her outside the tavern, except for the broken nose. Kurokawa's skills were as amazing as they said, no one could believe just a few days ago that nose was swollen and be fair, the Harpy girl looked even more seductive in the erotic version of Chiton with bare back, deep neck that reveale her big breasts, making Pina, a woman, found it hard to take her eyes off them.

"And of course, trying to make some extra money." Mizari wiped wet fingers with her skirt, a wicked smile appeared on her mouth. "Captain Panache is generous, a generous and happy ones" She approached Pina, very close, so close that she could smell the perfume mixed with sweat on her body.

"What does you think if I turn you into a happy princess?" She whispered into her ear, her voice was sweet. "This solemn expression doesn't suit you a bit."

Pina was startled slightly as Mizari's fingers crawled through the backs of her hair. Another few inches, her lips will touch her cheek and the worst thing was that she felt extremely comfortable.

"No" Pina pushed her hand away.

Mizari took a few steps back "No? Isn't this right place or you don't like it? "She tilted her head and asked,

"Both. "

"It's a pity" Mizari sighed. "But doesn't matter, maybe the princess will change her mind later."

This woman was so lustful and dangerous. It is best that she be careful with her. _Why am I so stupid to recruit her in the first place?_ Oris, Esona, Satin looked at each other in confusion and turned to look at her but no one said anything. Oris face was so red that it seem to explode and Pina wished he was angry instead of ...

"Can we go now?" Bozes said as she entered the room. The blonde knight then looked around and smell something weird in the scene "What's wrong? Did she cause any trouble?"

"She did" the seasoned knight replied jockingly "Just not the kind of trouble you spoke of"

"Whatever, now I want you three drag your ass out there quickly, it's your turn. Satin! How many times have I told you about gambling? "

"I'm so sorry, Commander." Satin stood up and turned to Oris. "Are you planning to use it to shave, boy? Drop that wet stone and get moving"

Oris hurriedly went to the weapon rack and wore the longsword behind his back then followed Esona. Pina looked at the knight of Akendale.

"You should teach him how to to be a man, Satin. We don't need boys in the order. Understand what I mean? "

" Yes, I understand. I will get him something when we have time. "

Then, Satin chuckled before walking out the door.

"What did i just miss?" Bozes asked in confusion.

"Nothing." Pina answered. "Let's us begin."

The map was spread on the table, Bozes marveled at the scale of the world beneath Akusho, but Mizari just glanced at it and smirked. She lived there her whole life, so it was no surpirse if she knew about underground tunnels.

"We will enter this road." Pina pointed at an empty lot marked with an "X" on Peach Tree Street. "It should lead us to the riverbank tunnel. The rest is a bit confusing, but if this map is correct, we can approach Japanese hideout at very close distances. What do you think, Mizari? "

" I've never used that path ever. It had been a long time since it was used but if it led us to the main tunnel along the riverbank then it would be fine. I had used that path a few times. "

" Are you a member the Gonzori? "Bozes scornfully asked." Why am I not surprised. "

"Not Gonzori but Medusa. In fact, I don't belong to any faction, gang or guild but that insidious snake control three-quarters of the prostitutes, so if she want me to do something, I have to follow her order. No one dares to refuse unless you don't want your face washed. "

" Washed? "

"They cut your nose, lips and eyelids and let you alive. Knights, mercenaries feed themselve with hands while we only have this and with the thing between our legs but I'm totally sure that they wouldn't pick you by smelling your cunt . "

Mizari explained in horror at Bozes and Pina. An ugly prostitute earns little but still better than a deformed whore. If they don't die from starvation, infected wounds would do the job. A horrible death, even for those like Mizari.

"Cruel bastard." Bozes hissed through her teeth, clenching his fist tightly.

"Welcome to Akusho, honey."

The blonde knight ignored the sarcasm. "Are you not afraid of what Medusa will do to you when she knows you are helping us?"

"I must keep my words, right? I was a bit scared at first but I have already taken your money so I had to finish the contract. However, it's fine if I want to hide. You two will never see me for the second time. You should be the one who are afraid here. Have you ever wondered if I was sent by her to bring you into the room? "

Bozes gritted her teeth, her hand on hilt but Pina stopped the commander

"I think lady Mizari has proven her trust." If she tried anything, Pina would be the one who slashed the arrogant smile off her face "She will be with us."

On the way to Hardy temple, Pina's nerves stretch like strings. She escaped her house through a window, crawled into a tiny hole under the inner wall and passed three thousand royal guards by name of Nina, the servant of the commander Bozes Co Palesti. The fear of being discovered was not excessive. Pina had lived in Russenfort castle for twenty-six years of her life, so it wasn't so difficult for a guard, the maid or the gardener to recognize her with just a look.

As they walked along the corridor lit with torches, carefree sparks joked around Pina's red hair, making it look more lively and hauntingly beautiful . _The fire of Hardy_ , people often say that when mentioning the woman who bear the color of death and rebirth. Pina was the only person who inherits this trait from her mother, while Zorzal and Diabo had bright blond hair and the Emperor's square jaw.

_How many red-haired girls in the palace?_ Pina thought briefly and quickly pulled the hood down a little more.

Outside the palace was relatively easier to breathe. Patrol teams were either Knights of Rose or Hermish's soldiers led by one of their men. They standing solemnly, gently bowed their heads when they saw Bozes passed by. No one asked questions about the harpy or brown-robed traveler accompanied their commander.

"We can trust these people." Bozes say with pride in her voice "In the Order, we are flesh and blood"

"Really? Even the blind can tell that they are not siblings. "

"They are very loyal. "Bozes retorted.

"Then there will be a day when I carve those words on your tombstone." The Harpy laugh echoing on the old mud brick houses of Sedera capital.

The closer to the Akusho area, the patrolling teams gradually disappeared and the streets began to become more secluded and darker. In Jin district, four gallows were erected in middle of the forum, the noose dangled in the wind, not a soul to be seen. At their feet were all sorts of filthy rubbish, Pina almost trampled on a dead rat. She jumped aside while Mizari laughed. Above them, behind the doorway and closed wooden window were eyes watching them in the dark.

"What are they afraid of?" Pina asked.

"Afraid of us" The Harpy whistled. "This area is the nearest district to Akusho."

"I don't think I look like a bandit that much" Bozes said disdainfully.

"Some bandits look like knights, some knights look like bandits or sometimes both. Well whether what the hell you are , people don't want to risk it. "

Peach Tree Street lies in the middle of Jin and Petorian districts, two well-known areas are no less than Akusho. According to Mizari, this place is the place where vultures burn poor quality swords, old armor before turning them into shovel picks and pork knives. The whole neighborhood smells of ash and sulfur, the walls and the road are all smoky.

"We are almost there."

Mizari pointed at the end of the street. Bozes and Pina looked up and saw a land but it was not as empty as it was desribed on the map. Countless stelae from all kind of shapes protruding from the ground, shrubs and grass grew indiscriminately around and in the middle was a long-dead tree

"This is ... a graveyard? "Bozes's voice was a bit shaky." Are you kidding me? "

"Fear of the dead, knight? "

Mizari smiled haughtily as she walked through the graveyard. Bozes walked right behind Pina, muttering and cursing lowly

Three people crossed graves with tombstones , those with a stick and small wooden board and graves without tombstone or stick. The trembling blonde hair knight prayed and prayed in the interest of both Pina and Mizari. Who could have imagined that Bozes Co Palesti was afraid of ghosts? When she passed the withered tree, the Harpy stopped in front of a beautifully decorated stombtone, looked better than the others. They found a trapdoor hidden under the grass.

"We don't have torches," Bozes said.

"Don't worried."

Mizari pulled out a feather on her wings and held it tightly between two fingers.

"Aderuie," she whispered, and the feather suddenly gave off a pale blue light.

Magic. In the Beastmen's sphere, Harpy has the highest magic potential, some said they could even acquire basic magic without having to practice.

"I learned this from a half ass wizzard." Mizari said, "I was his first woman and could be the last."

"I don't understand."

"He joined the expeditionary army to the other side of the Gate and not return "

Two-thirds of the forces was dead or in prison. To this day, Pina was still not sure what really happened out there. Itami told her that the attack took only four hours before the main force of Saderan Empire got crushed, while Sugawara told the fight to last until sunset even though he admitted he was not in Tokyo. On this side, Veserny insisted that their troops had fought bravely and caused great losses to the enemy, but Anthony only confirmed a part of the story because most of the time they had just hit and ran, so they could not know how many enemies had been killed. Whatever the case, the Empire's defeat was indisputable and now it was in danger of being destroyed by Zorzal's stupidity.

When Pina set foot in the tunnel, she immediately understood why no one had ever used it for a long time. The cramped passageway was supported by temporary beams, damp and muddy ground, some sections had been collapsed or subsided, creating small slots was large enough for a person to slip through. Bozes and Mizari met countless troubles. The blonde knight wear plate armor and chainmail underneath her green cloak, the short sword hilt propped up from her hip. Bozes said the longsword was too inconvenient to be in the tunnel and decided to take this one on the mission. . Mizari's giant wings were stuck every time they slipped through the narrow gap, though she tried to fold them up but it was not very effective. To solve this inconvenient situation, Pina would go ahead and pull her over while Bozes would push from behind.

They finally arrived at the underground passage along the river in exhaustion, dirty clothes, and smudged faces.

"Get out." Bozes knelt down, hands on the ground, breathless, "Are you alright?"

"I have to ask for more money for this" Mizari wiped the mud off the wings and hair. "Three hundred silver coins nhé princess?"

"I ... Well. Whatever. "Pina was too tired to bargain with her.

"I also want a new dress."

"That's enough!" Bozes parried.

"Silent!" Pina hissed through her teeth. "We only have three people with two swords. Are you sure we can kill them all Bozes? "

"Don't worry, smugglers don't go through here at this hour. They have to wait for the guards to switch shifts in the early morning. "Mizari said," We are safe. "

And what happened later proved she was completely wrong. They saw the flickering light at the corner with a chain of laugh. A orc, a beastman and a dwarf appeared, all three of them carrying weapons. Too late to avoid them, they had seen them.

"Let me take care of this," Mizari whispered. "The two of you keep quiet."

three smugglers were only four feet away from them. The name of the Orc was stout, his face was ghostly pale with two big black eyes, growling at them while holding wooden mace in his hand. The beastman, a weasel, winced when he saw them, he pointed the crossbow at Mizari.

"Who are you?" Said the dwarf. His voice was thick and heavy.

"I am the one who brings pleasure to men and women, and these are my two companions." Mizari pointed at them. "Nina and Jenny."

"Nina and Jenny?" The dwarf scratched his chin. "What are you three people doing here?"

"Find your way to Akusho. Thing is Jenny have just killed a knight in the morning and was chased by the damned Roses. I advised her to go see Mr. Gonzori, who desperately needs skilled swordsmen. Nina also wants to follow, the two of them are a unseperated couple. "

"Mercenaries always have a place in Akusho as long as they are not afraid of death. "He turned to look at Bozes and Pina. "Is it true that you are mercenaries ? "

She and Bozes nodded.

"Very well, we have nothing to do with your business and you guys have no problems with us so ..."

"Wait!" The weasel interrupted. "They lied."

The dwarf looked up at the tall fellow but didn't say a word.

"Are you stupid, Kodin? They are not mercenaries. The golden-haired baby's armor is more valuable than the money you earned for a lifetime. Why does the one who has enough money to buy something like that bother sell her sword? " He pointed his crossbow at Bozes. "I remember your face, bitch. A few days ago, you and the old knight killed Tonto at Brown Fairy. What do they call you? Ah ... Co Palesti the Wolf "

" I guarantee she is not the person you just said. "Mizari explained," Jenny Blackmill is from Riverside. You're wrong. Can we go now? "

"That's not my name. "

Bozes said coldly, followed by an sound of "Woop"

The short sword did not have enough power to chop off the weasel's head but it was sharp enough to slit his neck. He fell down, the crossbow fell from his hairy hands, blood spurted out from the wound and shot on the wall.

The Orc roars loudly, raising the wooden mace over his head and that's all he could do. Pina thrust her sword into his chest. There was not enough space for her to make a powerful stab, but because the Orc only wore a dirty yellow cloth, while her long sword was forged from the best steel money could buy, it was not difficult for the blade to pierce through his thick skin, flesh and bone.

"You bastard!" The dwarf cried and turned and ran away.

"BOZES!" Pina screams as she pulls her sword from the dead body of fallen enemy" KILL HIM. DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE "

An arrow from nowhere hit the back of the dwarf's neck. He staggered for a moment and fell to the ground and died. Pina turned her head and saw the crossbow in the hand of Mizari

"They should have let we go." Mizari laughed arrogantly as she threw the crossbow aside.

Two quick deaths but the death of the beastman would be painful.

"Deal with him," Pina ordered. " Be quick"

Bozes nodded then went to where the weasel was dying.

Gray once taught her that freeing others from anguish was the work of a true knight, even if that meant bringing death. A man could live a hard life but let his death be smooth and easy.

Bozes looked straight into the weasel's eyes, a strange look, neither hated nor pity.

"My name is Bozes. They called me the Lion of Co Palesti family. Who are you? "

" Lu..c..Lu..cas. "He said in a sob" It's..Do. "

The sharp sword was plugged down, blood came out from the wound on his left chest and mouth. The beastman's eyes closed for one last time.

"Hurry up ! Maybe other guys are wandering around. "Mizari urged" Follow me. "

Three people ran to the net, leaving behind three bloody corpses. They turn right, turn left and turn right a few more times under her guidance. Mizari didn't use the map, but her absolute confidence in every step made Pina feel secured. Harpy inherited the wonderful memory of birds, Pina told herself that whenever the hallway became more narrow and cramped.

They came out of the underground world through a manhole cover near the dry fountain. Mizari climbed up first to look around. Bozes and Pina followed shortly.

"The Japan Representative Office is at the end of this road. The house has white light "

There was indeed a white light glimmering in the middle of the dark slums. Pina and Bozes let out a sigh of relief because they knew they had come exactly where they needed to go. There was only one thing that gives off that strange light - neon lights, an invention of the country located in east of Japan. The map did not trick them and Mizari didn't sell them out.

The last part of the journey was easier than Pina thought. There were not many people on the street but a few drunkards who were sleeping under the doorstep and a old begar. It seemed that Akusho's reputation made her forget that criminals were also human and needed to sleep.

Mizari threw a copper coin into the old man's cup.

"You didn't see us, old Turtle." She said.

"He can't see us." Bozes was surprised. "He is blind."

"His legs are often shaky and exhausted faster than he think, but believe me, he's never blinded."

One day she had to ask how many men and women Mizari had been sleeping with. That number would not be small.

The Japanese residence was a two-story building built with white lime bricks, just like every house around here. Two soldiers dressed in green stood at the door immediately raised their steel rod when they saw them approaching.

"Who is it?" A person asked in Falmat language.

"Mizari and Princess Pina." Mizari said This was the first time she called her princess.

"Forgive us." The soldier lowered his rod. " is waiting for you."

The first person they met inside was Kurokawa, the doctor sitting on a small stool with a book in her hand. She stood up and bowed to her.

"Welcome, princess"

"Kurokawa. It's been a long time. "The last time they met was at an outdoor party." How's thing going lately? "

"Busy, I'm the only doctor here after all." Briefly and straight to the point. Kurokawa's style. The doctor silently observed the three of them, her usual indifferent eyes gleaming with concern when he saw blood on Bozes's cloak

"What happened?" She turned to Mizari with what-did- you-do- this-time look.

"This is not my fault," she said. "Some idiots thought they could kill the commander of the Rose Knight and it ended up like this Don't worry, we're still fine, just little bit dirty. "

" The bathroom is this way. "Kurokawa pointed at the left door." In case you have needs. "

" Great. "She grabbed the golden hair knight's wrist and pulled aside. "Have you ever taken a shower, commander?"

"You and me ... have a bath together?" Bozes's cheeks blushed "I don't think ..."

"Embarrassed?" Bozes Co Palesti, who defeated Tonto and his comrades are afraid of ghosts and a prostitute who doesn't carry weapons?" People will love to listen to this. "

" I'm not afraid, "Bozes brushed her hand away and angrily headed towards the bathroom.

"I like this girl." The Harpy said to her "She is very good with the sword in her hand but we shall see how well she handle other things"

After saying that, she followed Bozes and disappeared behind the door.

_Gods bless you, Bozes_

Kurokawa leads you to the room of Mr. Sugawara on the second floor. She stopped in front of the door, signaling Pina to go inside alone.

"He want to meet you in private."

"Right, it's better this way."

Sugawara sat behind a small table, vouchers and report piled around, covering a part of his face. The Japanese man rose and smiled when he saw Pina.

"Princess, I am very sorry for this inconvenience. I'm sure you understands the current situation does not allow me to leave Akusho. "His Falmat sounded like a bird singing," Please don't think ill of me. "

"I understand." Pina took the seat opposite to Sugawara. "Zorzal will tear you limb to limb if you do so"

"The prince isnt a paitent man, I take that." Even when stinging someone, his intonation was unchanged "You are the one who actively contacted me first, so let me ask you this, princess. What do you need from me?"

"Peace" That was what she wanted but what about the Japanese? They were who proposed this idea. But that peace was was created in a different time with different man sitting on the right throne "We need to know if your country still intends to maintain peace with the Empire."

"This I do not have the right to answer in the behalf of Japanese government. I am the voice of the Japanese people in the Empire but the final decision still belong to the prime minister and the parliament. "

"I don't need you to answer as a damn diplomatic envoy" Pina said, "I just went through a dirty sewer and killed three men to come here, so what do you think of Japan's intentions?" ? "

Sugawara mused for a moment, then chuckled."You has the mind of the politician and the heart of a soldier, princess. "He looked into her eyes." Let's say Japan wants to maintain the deal with your father then what? A peace can only be established when both parties comply the ceasefire and don't take aggressive action. Your brother violated both things. "

_Nonsense,_ Since the signing of the armistice agreement till this day, the imperial troops had never received an attack order. Except for the legion corpses who were summoned by her brother to block out the capital, the majority of soldiers stationed on the Empire's territory still remained unmoved. And even if Zorzal ordered it, she would have known first.

"I think you're wrong, Sugawara. Zorzal may show off some muscle and had hostile speeches but he can not do anything dangerous. I'm sure that the Empire never broke the ceasefire. "

"Really? "He took a piece of paper from the stack of documents and handed it to her." Your Japanese is pretty good so I think you won't have any problems. "

She picked up the paper and read it. A report from Alnus Hill, JSDF headquarters.

"_Our troops are often attacked by enemies. They do not appear in large numbers but attacks often occur unexpectedly and fiercely. The enemy does not carry the banner as well as wearing the Empire's standard uniform or color of any independent state. Reports said that the enemy seemed to be trained very carefully and had a clear strategy, they only attacked places where our troops were thin and lacked heavy weapons and then withdrew. _

_Those who sympathize with us or help the JSDF are attacked by all mean possible. From intimidation, kidnapping to massacre. Reconnaissance teams found three villages burned, no one survived. " _

_WARNING: there is a sign of guerrilla war. The headquarters is planning a counter strategy. All unit be advised until futher direction "_

Pina coldly read the last line. Her leg lost their strength, the report slipped from her hand, falling under the chair.

"Zorzal ..." She bit her lip. "You brainless fool! Downright stupid. "

" It seems the princess did not know about it as I expected. "Sugawara said calmly," But now you know why it is hard for us to maintain the peace. Your brother violated the agreement. "

" I will fix this. Just give me time "Pina almost begged. _If he forced me to kiss his feet to show my sincerity, I would also accept_ "Give me time."

"I will deliver your words to the Japanese government." Sugawara nods. At that moment, she just wanted to put kiss on his cheek. "But I not only agree to meet you today because of your brother's action but also because the Japanese Government have a request for you"

"Yes, speak up my good man. I will gladly do it" She answered immediately. If Sugawara can persuade Japan to maintain peace, then ten requests would be easy as a cake.

"The United States, our allied country, wants to establish diplomatic relations with the Empire. Maybe now they are on their way here. Our government hopes that you can convince the prince to allow them to approach the city and ensure the safety of the diplomatic convoy. "Sugawara clasped his hands together, the sound of birds singing turned into a " Because If something bad happens to them, our treaty will be over. The United States is not as tolerant as we are. If they declare war on you, Japan must also declare war because the responsibility of allies to force us to do so. "

Pina was speechless.


	9. The History, Legend and lore of Falmat 1

Because there will be a lot cultural references mentioned in future Saderan chapters so I present you a special chapter called "**The History, Legend and lore of Falmat"** which give you an considerable understanding on races, culture and history of the Special Region.

**I_\- _Introduction of the Empire**

The Empire or Saderan Empire which share the same name with it's capital (Sadera) is Falmart's largest military political entity with influence over the continent. The territory of the Empire stretches from East to West of the continent with the rich river deltas, long coastline, ports, cities, dense forests, low hills and mountains.

The JSDF has estimated that from the extreme east to the extreme west of the Empire, the total length is more than 8000 km, which is as wide as the Mongol Empire.

Geographically, the giant Rho River divides Empire into East and West halves with the capital Sadera in the middle. The West of the Empire consists of plains surrounded by large mountains, rich port cities of the Pearl Sea and crowded riverside setlements. Meanwhile the East is an open land with unexplored grasslands and forests. To the south of the western territory lies a long-standing volcanic mountain known as Tuba, which is said to be the place where the legendary fire dragon lived and the north is a large desert uninhabited desert covered by Knappnai mountain range. Part of the southern coast of the Romalia moutain is the territory of four large independent kingdoms but heavily influented by the Empire: Elbe, Agula, Mudwan, and the Duchy of Lindon. The Empire also has 17 other small lands scattered throughout its territory called 17 vassal states

**1/ Political organization:**

The Empire was led by the Emperor, who had almost absolute power and the highest social and military rank. Under the emperor was the Senate and the other departments. Senate is the most important administrative apparatus in Sadera with diverse functions, from civilian fields such as population management, tax collection, construction, security, trade and agriculture management to mobilizing troops for war. The constituent of the Senate is a member of noble families in or outside Capital of Sadera with a few exceptions. There was a time when members of the Senate were elected by the people through popular vote, but this form of election had ended about 200 years ago. Currently the only way to have a seat in the Senate is through internal voting.

Theoretically, the Emperor had overwhelming power but the truth was that his decisions were dominated by the Senators. Three emperors were overthrown by the Senate and one was killed.

The next level in the administrative apparatus is the Governor. The Empire does not explicitly stipulate the appointment of the governor. Usually a large city or a specific region will have a governor nominated by the Senate or appointed by the Emperor himself, but some areas may not apply this rule. The city of Italica and its surrounding areas are always under the control of the noble family in the form of hereditary and the magical city of Rondel managed by the council of wizards though located in the territory of the the Empire.

**2/ Residents**

Because the territory was so vast as the consequences of constant conquests for more than 500 years, the Empire's inhabitants were varied and disturbed over time.

**_Men_** is the most populous part of the Empire with a diverse range of living: big cities, villages, towns, harbors, plains and mountains. Sadera is the Empire of humankind and it is not surprising that this resident component holds almost all the power of society and other species are considered inferior and must accept the fate of being ruled.

**_Beastman_** is a human-like creature which diverse in appearance and name but the most common is still Wolf clan, Rabbits, Harpy, dozen branches of Cat clan living mixed with human inhabitants and doing varied jobs for living from warriors, hunters, craftsmen, farming, servants and prostitutes. Of course because of not being considered as men, the Beastmen is not allowed to hold any position of power in the Empire(There is still a few exception) and is often discriminated against (Nobless families in the Capital do not even hire Beastmen to serve as servants). Rabbits (Previously called Warrior Bunnies) are the newest members of Sadera society after the Empire destroy their Country of the Prairie in the East two years ago, those who survived and not being sold into Slavery cuts their ears to integrate better in their new life. The Warrior Bunnies is quite special because the babies are all always female so every time they want to breed, a male partner from other races is needed.

**_Elve_** is the oldest creature in Falmart living in small villages and forests. Elve has a human-like appearance except for longer ears than usual. They excel in cultivation, hunting, crafting, magic, music or fighting if dedicated. Lelei once told Itami that she believed that the reason why Elve was so good was because they had a nearly immortal life to perfect their skills no matter how hard they were. Although most of Elve's living spaces are located in Sadera territory, they rarely relate or are affected by the Empire's authority. Immortal life encourage Elve to live as minimalist with very few valuable proverty, separated from other seltements of Human and Beastmen. Their lacking of the concept of money and trading make them less likely a target for looting while the small amount of population and indifferent attitude make Sadera government ignored them.

**_Orc, Troll, Goblin_**are fierce and brutal creatures who mainly live in wild caves and hills. The society of these creatures is extremely violent and primitive, so there are no villages or towns built by them. There was a time when we had a threat of other species, but since the last Morka Moon and his Orc army was defeated by the Sadera Empire, they had to retreat to the eastern forests and caves in Avalanche Mountains. There, Orcs continued the activity that the had been doing for thousands of years , killing each other until the end of the world. Some Orcs and Goblins are smarter than their compatriots and went to the city and become traders but the majority still practice thievery, joining organized crime groups or selling their sword to Empire army.

**_3/Vizima Peninsula and Niflheim_**

Before reading about the history of the empire, we need to know a little about the peninsula of Vizima, Vizima alliance and Niflheim, one of the most powerful enemies of the Sadera Empire have ever faced. Wars that fought between these rivals change Falmart forever.

Vizima Peninsula is located in the southeastern part of the empire today, is a strip of rich land with many famous commercial ports and fertile land. Politically, before the first Niflheim-Sadera war, Vizima had six major kingdoms and many autonomous territories. The six major kingdoms are: Pricia, Anoch, Lorencia, Floinia, Speize and Niflheim. Niflheim is the strongest kingdom but its inhabitants are not the native inhabitants of Vizima. Niflheim sea warriors come from the subcontinent Avalon, south of continent Falmart and just only set their foothold on Vizima soil 50 years before the first Sadera- Niflheim war.

Under the threat of the new empire of Sadera which is hungry for gold, slave, land and blood, the whole Peninsula had united under the name of Vizima alliance led by the most respected and powerful kingdom of Niflheim.

**_4/The South Romalia kingdoms_**

The South Romalia kingdoms are the common names of the four countries located south of the giant Romalia mountains that split the Falmat continent in two. During the early period of the Empire, the area was devoid of many inhabitants due to its rugged terrain and poor agricultural land, but when the ancient kingdoms of Crix and Akendale were defeated in 68, those who survived the collapse of the homeland, refusing to accept the empire as a subject of the empire, went to the region of South Romalia for refuge. Copper, iron and gold mines were discovered a few years later and turned it into one of Falmat's fast-growing areas.

Four kingdoms formed from small cities and separate territories. Agula took over the land below the South Romalia Mountains, Elbe captured the southwestern coast while Mudwan and the Duchy of Lindon shared the east coast and Thend River. As a descendant of the kingdom of Knights Crix and Akandale in the past, the four kingdoms of South Romalia were the cradle of the spirit of chivalry, honor and the best heavy cavalry in Falmat. The number of famous knights comes from these four countries more than anywhere else on the continent

**II-The History of the Empire**

According to the calendar of the Empire, this entity has existed for 587 years. The calendar with timeline is the coronation of Aurelius Antoninus, the first Emperor and the great conqueror. More than a third of the Empire's territory was obtained through this man. Between the fourth and the twelfth year, the Sadera Army conducted its first major expansion across the continent and won important victories. One of them was to cross Romalia in the West and occupy Italica as a lauching point for the future military operations. In the East and center of the continent, the army commanded by the Emperor himself captured the coastal cities and repelled the nomadic peoples away from the Great Grassland, setting the stage for the his successor built powerful trade centers, which were the key to operations on the West later on.

After Aurelius died, his descendants continued their conquest. Romulus fought the three kingdoms Crix, Arrun and Akandale over the control of the land under Knappnai and Romalia mountains but failed. The army of the Empire was defeated and even the Emperor himself lost his life on the battlefield. It was not until 68 that Akandale was destroyed, Crix managed to survive for another twenty two years before their legendary cavalry forces was crushed by the Invictus Legion during the Battle of the Hollerheim in 80. The ancient magic kingdom of Arrun takes the opportunity to take over the remains of the old frenemies and negotiate peace with the Empire.

**_Recession period_**

The 2nd century saw the decline of the Empire. Emperor Drasus and his nephew Horas were catastrophes to the people of Sadera for more than 63 years. Drasus started the dynasty normally but after a strange illness, he suddenly changed his behaviour. The Emperor always suspected of someone planned to murder at him, so he rarely appeared in public and always hid behind dozens of guards even in the palace. Drasus' paranoia was so severe that he did not dare to cut his hair because he feared the barber could be the assassin who was sent to kill him, so for many years the emperor was in a filthy manner. Many people complained that Drasus was not like an Emperor and then night murders began to occur throughout the capital. In the last years of his reign, Drasus had executed at least four thousand people but the number of deaths on the street cause by his assassination squad must have been greater. The Senate intervened, they imprisoned Drasus, but due to controversy over his successor, the mad Emperor still ruled for another 12 years in captivity.

Horas succeeded after Drasus death in 173. Horas was not crazy like his uncle but an insatiable man. For twenty-three years of rule, he depleted the treasury five times. Horas often parties lavishly for months and when he was bored he will turn his attention to organizing the tournament or building a palace. It is said that the Emperor wanted a ship made of gold for excursions despite the shipbuilders said that such an object could never sail on sea. The result of this idiocy was forty-two people drowned, even Horas almost lost his life in the accident if not for the bravery of the guards.

The madness and wastefulness of the two emperors were the reasons why the first decade of the 3rd century becoming a nightmare for the Empire. Between 202-245, the nomadic nations defeated by Aurelius had returned and constantly threatened the Northeast border with raids. The system of outport which was weaken during the rule of Horas due to lack of funding could not stop hordes after hordes of nomadic invaders, while another powerful enemy, Niflheim, began to appear and ready fight for their influence on Falmat continent with the Imperial Empire.

**_The first Sadera - Niflheim war_**

In 248 Niflheim organized a large invasion force to attack Sadera from sea. At the naval battle of Misty Islands (consisting of three small islands at the mouth of the Sea of Pearl), the Niflheim army was victorious. Two-thirds of Sadera's naval forces were destroyed, making the Empire's most important coastal cities completely exposed to Niflheim's attacks. Aquaticus was captured after a week of resisting, Romulan city was named after Romulus, Aurelius's grandson was burned down to the ground, most of the population was massacred. Niflheim's infantry forces established a base in Aquaticus and began to march to the north while the navy followed the Rho River towards the capital.

12 legion were dispatched to deal with the powerful Niflheim forces consiting of 150,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry, while the capital was forced to prepare for the siege from the Tiris River. The two sides met on the field of Batigon and once again the victory leaned toward the army from the East. Emperor Adarian was captured at the battle, but his of his princes died on the battlefield. This traumatic event force Lorenthar, Adarian's eldest daughter to receive the title of Emperor in place of her younger brother who wasonly three year old at the time. Due to the lack of a good army, Clementine had to summon the troops from the west of Romaila back to defend the capital city. 60,000 soldiers led by the seventy-two-year-old Helius crossed the Romalia for four days, later the life called it "The Divine Operation".

Helius knew that he was not strong enough to face Niflheim's main force on the field, so he sent an army of 3,000 men to town near Aquaticus called Tarvik to create a diversion. He want Niflheim army think that he was about to cut off their supply lines.

Niflheim was trapped by the old general, they immediately marched back in a messy order stretching more than ten kilometers, Niflheim Cavalry left the infantry behind, turning them into easy prey for Sadera cavalry. Helius. The attack took place at noon, the central Niflheim army disintegrated quickly after a brief battle and the rest of it was like a fox hunt, Helius easily surrounded isolated part of the enemy and defeated them partly. What left of Niflheim army attempted to flee to Tarvik to organize defenses, but after realizing that Sadera's diversionary army had captured the town and cut off the path to Aquaticus, they immediately surrendered their weapons. In mid-249, Niflheim's ground forces were completely defeated.

Niflheim Navy conducted the siege on Sadera for two months. In the fifth week, they broke the wall opposite the Tiris River and poured into the city but it was not over there. The defensive troops set up barricades on each street, on every inner bridge and fought fiercely to the last man. Many times they nearly pushed the invader back to the wall. Though not a warrior and bearing the title of Empress, Lorenthar still went to the front line to promote the spirit of soldiers. During a small battle in Athenian Square, the Empress lost a hand during the war and that was the reason why people after the war usually said "Lorenthar single hand saved the Empire". By the last week of the siege, receiving news that the army had been defeated, Niflheim's fleet stopped all the attack and sail to the Sea of Pearl in the night.

The Sadera-Niflheim War ended. Lorenthar ruled for another 52 years, she died at the age of 83 and passed the throne to her brother's son, Valerian. At the time, Valerian succeeded, the Empire had regained most of it's power after more than a century of war, disease and poor management.

**_The Western campaigns _**

Valerian were not keen on vengeance attacks on Niflheim proposed by the Senate and army, which harmed the relationship between him and the nobility for many years to come and eventually led to tragic death for this Emperor. Instead he proposed a peace with Niflheim and its allied nations in the Vizima peninsula to have time to facilitate the remaining settlement of Kingdom Arrun, the powerful magic nation was now only a shadow of its former shell after a The magical catastrophe caused an epidemic killing half of the population.

After two years of fighting, Valerian captured the entire Arrun, eliminating the last obstacle on the way further to western part of Falmat. However, the aspirations of the ambitious Emperor was not easy to come true if the kingdoms of the southern Romalia such as Elbe, Agula, Mudwan, and Duchy of Lindon still existed. Among these four kingdoms, only the Duchy of Lindon was friendly with Empire due to the benefit it gained through trade, Mudwan was usually remained neutral while Elbe and Agula would fight against Empire to tooth and nail to reserve their independence. In 314, Duchy of Lindon joined forces with Empire to invaded Agula and Elbe.

Thanks to the skill of a army general, Mario El Servius, 15 legion of Sadera easily invaded and occupied Agula within a month. Due to the crushing defeat of its ally, Elbe existence was at risk as the imperial legions now outnumbered them 3 to 1. However, when the victory was firmly in the Empire's hands, an incident occurred.

The fact that the Agula's remnants continued their guerrilla activities forced Mario El Servius to send two 3rd legions "Warthog" and 15th legion "Emperor's hammer" back to protect the supply route across the newly captured territory. When these two legions passed the volcanic mountain of Tuba, they accidentally encountered the legendary fire dragon and suffered heavy casualties. Six thousand people died and the consequences the imperials face after were even more terrible. The Agula people saw this as a sign of victory and started rebellions driving the garrison troop out of their land as well as cut off Mario's supply line completely.

Trapped between two hostile armies, Mario had to choose between attacking Elbe and returning to Agula to crush down the uprising, reopen the supply line. Mario chose the second way and began to send troops through the passes between the Agula and Elbe borders. However, his army encountered many difficulties due to bad weather, cholera and enemy ambushes. Upon reaching the territory of the Agula, Mario El Servius had only five legions intact, little of food and less moral to take back the Agula. He sent the Emperor to ask for more troops, but Valerian failed to persuade the Senate, so in late 315, Mario was ordered to return to Italica. However, his army encountered many difficulties due to bad weather, cholera and enemy ambushes. When reaching the border of Agula, Mario El Servius had only five legions intact, little of food and less moral to take back the Agula. He sent letter to the Emperor to ask for more troops, but Valerian then failed to persuade the Senate, so in late 315, Mario was ordered to return to Italica.

The western campaign ended with the Empire's defeat.

This defeat caused Valerian's reputation to shake wildly. The Emperor tried to restore his honor by holding another attack but received no support from the nobility and the commoners. The people believed that the attacks of the 3rd and 15th Squadron were a sign that Valerian had lost the blessing of the gods and the two great floods in 317 and 319 in Sadera reinforced the importance This point of them.

Being shunned by the aristocracy and ordinary people for a long time, the year 324 Valerian hung himself in the palace.

**_Second Sadera-Niflheim War (60-year war_**_ )_

Learning from his father, Valerian's son Gaius fully supported a war with rival Niflheim at the discretion of the Senate. In 328, after four years of enthronement, Emperor Gaius declared the Mist isles the territory of the Empire despite protests from Niflheim. Previously, Valerian had promised to make these islands neutral territory and the would be Empire fleet was anchored there. This was how Valerian show his goodwill to the former enemy because the Misty Isles very important in term of military to Niflheim's territorial waters. Gaius's actions seemed to be the end of the peace agreement that had lasted for more than 20 years, but Niflheim couldn't do much with the tangled situation on the Vizima peninsula they were encountering, especially when some important allies were like Anoch and Lorencia were intending to change side when they saw the odd now favored the Sadera Empire.

Although lasting up to 60 years, under the reign of the three emperors, the climax of this war was at an early stage when Gaius was still sat on the throne and with one of the best generals in Sadera's history on the frontline, Anthony El Deconte.

In the summer of 329, 50,000 troops under General Anthony El Deconte attacked Myre province bordering the Sadera regions, north of the peninsula of Vizima, belonging to the principality of Pricia but managed by Niflheim. They quickly gained control of the province for several weeks because the Niflheim defenders were second grade troops which was poorly equipped and organized. Niflheim and its allies immediately organized an army of up to 200,000 men to fight the invader but that number did not last long. During the conference at the Kinix Fortress, the generals of the southern Vizima countries pointed their finger at Anoch and Lorencia and loudly call them out for bringing only 4,000 soldiers while the number should have been 15,000. A quarrel broke out and as a result, the two countries and a few vassal lords immediately led troops back home. Although this was a political disaster, from a military perspective, the Vizima Alliance was still powerful compared to Anthony's force and at the battle of Horn, they crushed the invaders and chased them out of Myre.

In 331, the Empire attacked Myre but with another tactic. Anthony did not try to defend the territory he had just acquired, but proceeded to loot and burn what he could not carry. Two weeks after the Vizima coalition was mobilized again to fight but when they reached Myre, Sadera troops retreated to the border to hide behind their safe fortresses.

In 332, the legion of Empire returned to Myre but due to fierce resistance from the defenders, Anthony decided to retreat after two weeks of fighting. Two years later, he again led his troops to Vizima but this time the goal was Floinia, one of richest country on the peninsula, not Myre. Anthony continues to use the same looting and burning strategy but he took it to next level. The capital Norstein was burned four days after its fall, the villages and surrounding towns were also destroyed, the Floinia royal family was taken prisoner, Anthony even declared his love for princess of Floinia and marry her as the second wife (Some say he raped the bride or the whole marriage was for political reasons).

Too frustrated by the constant encroachment for five years, Niflheim decided to retaliate but the difficulty was that they did not have many valuable target that was worth the effort. The two Imperial regions bordering Myre were all grasslands, forests or swamps with strong outposts and castles, very hard to attack. The only goal that Niflheim's ruling council found worthy was the Misty Islands, the starting point for Sadera's invasion by sea in the future. In the 4th century, the Niflheim navy was still hegemony at sea with experienced admirals and well-trained fleets. In the previous war, they easily defeated the Sadera navy, so Niflheim was completely confident in the victory this time.

The second naval battle of Misty Isles was fierce and bloody that ended with a draw. The Niflheim marine suffered heavy losses so it was impossible to lauch an assault on island while the Sadera Navy did not have enough large ships to strike the final blow to the enemy. Despite some success, Niflheim was shocked by the adversary's progress and found its position as King of the sea began to waver. In the next attack in 337, Niflheim mobilized a larger number of warships, including their legendary Avion fleet, and won a convincing victory in the Third Battle of the Mist.

However, the sea victories were blurred by Anthony El Deconte's fifth invasion into Vizima. Unlike the previous four, this time Anthony brought a huge army to the fight. According to some historian, by the end of 337 about 150,000 infantrymen, 10000 auxiliaries and 6000 cavalry had march into Vizima. Myre was again captured and burned, but this time was the most devastating one, almost all of its inhabitants were massacred or had to flee, the walls, ports, cities, towns were destroyed or was abandoned. It was called this Last Rape because Myre means "Girl" in ancient language. Anthony's army easily recaptured Floinia, then Speize and Fireland. The coalition troops formed in a hurry to deal with Anthony but fail to stop his advance, especially in the Battle of the Red Mangrove, where the five Coalition Kings of Vizima were captured, missing or killed.

Although most of Alliance soldier survived the battle of Red Mangrove Forest, Anoch's departure from the Alliance was a serious blow to Vizima's war effort, causing division among nations. Niflheim as the leader of Vizima peninsula is determined to continue to fight on but the belief in the victories of allied nations began to waver after Anoch surrendered. Lorencia came out to criticize Niflheim's leadership and threatened to leave the Alliance because they would rather have an eminent Emperor Gaius than a fanatic, delusional leader. In this situation, the Niflheim ruling council had no choice but to attack Lorencia and annex the country to its territory before it surrendered to the Empire. This unforgiven punishment worked, hesitating countries all choose to continue fighting because they did not want to share the same fate with Lorencia. However, the view of whole Vizima on Niflheim change forever. it gradually became a different Empire from arbitrary behavior.

Sadera's expeditionary army wintered in northern Vizima in 340 until spring of 341 when the snow had melted. Niflheim realized that the main reason Anthony had delayed his advance for so long was the supply for his army which consisted of 200,000 men was far more complicated than he expect. The Niflheim naval domination at the sea caused Sadera troops to rely entirely on rickshaws and horsepower to transport food, men on a 400-mile long road from the Imperial city of Caucus and when this road was interrupted by weather, Anthony would not risk to take any action

Proposals that cut off the supply line were taken out, from using the navy to landing on the sea to trying to recapture the wasteland of Myre to flanking Anthony's rear army, but none of them were passed by Niflheim ruling council. Peter Wett, one of Niflheim's generals, proposed an allience with Sakkos and Norithos, two nomadic tribes that had formerly invaded the East of Sadera and North Vizima and used them to attack two provinces bordering Myre . Peter Wett thought that finding a way to breach Anthony's defense was a waste of time and too risky when the position of the Sadera army now had superior position and Anthony was definitely setting up a trap for them to attack. Peter Wett believed that when the supply line was threated Anthony would have to give up his position and retreat to Myre.

General Wett was partly correct. It was true that, after the supply road was cut, Anthony did leave his position but not to withdraw. Vizima's number one enemy had all his troops into Frieland, a low plain with small creeks, expressing the intention to fight a battle to determine the fate of the peninsula. This is also seen as a personal challenge to Peter Wett because Frieland was his ancestor's land.

The two armies selected an empty area called Bradford to serve as a battleground. Anthony brought to the battlefield 130,000 infantrymen and 5,000 war horses while Peter Wett had 120,000 infantrymen and 13,000 cavalry soldiers (half of them were all Sakkos and Norithos allied nomads).

Although there was no large difference in numbers of infantry was deployed by both side, Sadera's legions were famous for discipline and equipment, so Peter Wett knew he had to rely on the larger cavalry force on both flank to win the day.

When the first wave of attack was launched by both, the Niflheim Cavalry actively used triangular and charged towards the cavalry column of Sadera. Anthony responded by pulling out the cavalry on the left wing to the right wing and commanded all 5,000 horses by himself to battle the nomadic warriors and entrusting the left wing defense to the two legion. Sadera's troops won an unexpected victory over Sakkos's skilled but undiscipline riders but they lost their left wing. The cavalry of Niflheim proved too strong compared to the two legions of infantry.

Peter Wett immediately launched a second attack after breaking the left wing of the Empire. Later, General Niflheim personally led the reserve troops to strengthen his left wing facing Anthony's direct attack. According to what was said later, the two generals had a fierce duel. Anthony hit his opponent's head twice but his helmet saved Peter Wett's life. President Niflheim responded by breaking Anthony's shoulder bone with a mace, although he himself was injured and bleeding, the worst was the underarm arm injury.

The battle was interrupted when the guards of the two sides broke into and pull them out of the fight. Both commanders, despite of injury had to return to their position to command the third wave.

But the third wave of attacks was never implemented. Saderan Empire lost all of their cavalry forces and had about 100,000 legionnaires (30,000 killed or wounded) left so Anthony decided to wait for enemy to attack. Meanwhile, Niflheim lost between 55,000 and 60000 soldiers in the battle and although they still had about 6000 calvalry ready to be deployed, Peter Wett didn't think it was enough to break the enemy line like they had done at the begin of the battle so he wouldn't commit another offensive.

The two generals ordered their army to hold position and sometimes changed their deployment to observe the enemy's reaction until the sun was set. No attack took place at night even though Wett had given Anthony such a chance when he moved his army more than half a mile due to water in the camp was contaminated. Anthony saw the torches moving north in the night but he thought Wett was plotting to cut off his retreat, he also moved his defensive position for a mile. On the morning of the second day, the distance between the two armies was up to one and a half miles and since no one wanted to attack first, the battlefield that day belonged to the crows and the wild dogs fighting over corpses on the field. On the third day of Bradford's battle, the two sides reached an agreement on the collection of their dead and on the fourth night, Anthony called the retreat back to Floinia and then Myre.

Although Bradford did not have a decisive result, Peter Wett was still considered the winner because Anthony had to leave Vizima territory. However, Anthony's withdrawal caused more trouble for Niflheim and its allies than benefits. Sakkos and Norithos, two nomadic tribes who were dissatisfied with the spoils gained from attacking the sparsely populated lands of the Empire, allowed their nomadic troops to pillage the north of Vizima and fill the ports left behind by Anthony. Sakkos sacked Pricia in 344 and 345, Norithos raided the east coast of Vizima until the end of 348 . The people of Vizima call it "The continuous war" or "The betrayed of Sakkos". Peter Wett died in 349 when his entourage was ambushed by a group of Sakkos Raiding Party on the way back to Frieland,

The Niflheim War - Sadera continued with small border raids and maritime disputes until Gaius died of measles in 354. Anthony died due to old age four years later when the war had lasted 30 years.

The remaining members of the Lorencia royal family, backed by the Empire and Anoch, have been conducting resistance for 25 years against Niflheim's occupation. Lorencia regained independence in 379 and proclaimed neutrality in the conflict between Niflheim and Sadera. Anoch rejoined the Vizima alliance for a short time before the organization disbanded in 385 due to disagreements due to member nations with Niflheim.

Sadera recaptured the Mist Islands in 362 but lost it to Niflheim's hands three years later. The archipelago constantly changed owners four times in the next ten years, sometimes it was occupied by a large pirate crew led by the female pirate Ero. Until the peace treaty was signed in 388, the islands were still under Niflheim naval control.

At the end of the war, the unity on the Vizima peninsula was completely broken. Nations was dissatisfied with Niflheim after nearly six decades of constant war, heavy losses in their war with the Empire and the Nomad, formed their own alliances or remained neutral. After 388, Niflheim had to face threats without the backing of the entire peninsula and this led to Niflheim losing Vizima and a counterbalance position to Sadera a century later.

On the side of the Sadera Empire, though it was victory of ages, the price paid was not small. Sixty years of war had change the Empire society, economy, military and politic from root to top which lead the Empire into the Civil War (407-427).

End of Imperial History part 1

* * *

**The military structure of the Empire**

_Infantry:_

The backbone of the Imperial Army is a heavily armed and well-trained legionnaire. Legion is the oldest force in the history of the Empire, derived from the conquests of Aurelius Antonius. Initially the legionnaires were organized into an army of 4,000 men including auxiliaries called Legion but this structure changed a bit in later periods. During the reign of Romulus, a Legion had only about 4200 soldiers, while in the reign of Gaius or Molt Sol Augustus, the number of soldiers in a Legion sometimes exceeded 7000. Before the invasion of Ginza, the Empire had over 60 legion in service ( about 500000 men) with a considerable number of freecompany, knight orders and babarian troops.

The main weapons of a legionnaire are a short sword and shield, suitable equipment while fighting in a formation and is particularly effective against unarmored enemies. However, after several campaigns in the West, where the Sadera Empire encountered the well-equipped armies such as Crix, Akendale and South Romalia, the Imperial army equipped their soldiers with backup weapons like mace or mace to fight armored enemy.

Crossbows and bows are two weapons used frequently by the Empire's auxiliaries. The Saderan are not good archers so they love to use crossbows because of its convenience, especially after the first war with Niflheim-Sadera. Niflheim's army almost entirely used the crossbow instead of bow in the siege of the capital and they were extremely effective in urban warfare.

Although legions of Sadera Empire are highly standardized, the differences between a legion from the West, Centre and East of Sadera are easy to be noiticed. Legions from the west use a longer version of gladius and deploy mass heavy infatry and calvary on the battlefield while in the East, Lorica segmentata is too costly for the local economy to handle, they prefer chainmail and spears du to the fact that most of their enemy is nomandic horde.

_Cavalary:_

Because the backbone of Imperial army from the begining is heavy Infantry, most of it cavalry forces are light cavalry used for scouting and chasing enemy archers. Thing only changed after the deafeat of Romulus at the hand of Crix and Akendale in the first century. Infamous legions of the Empire had no counter tactic to enemy's shock cavalry and heavy horse and the result was the lost of Romulus and 20000 men. After the fall of Crix and Akendale, the Imperial Army rebuilt its calvary force based on the model of Crix with a tendency to use heavy cavalry to penetrate enemy lines while light cavalry, archery cavalry will perform harassing and detaching enemy's cavalry. A legion now would have at least 300 heavy horses in its rank alongside with 200 light horses but in the East the number of light calvary and horse archer were larger than normal due to the molbie warfare they faced.

Although its heavy cavalry is based on Crix and Ankendale, the Imperial army dislike the knight so as the result, most of heavy horsemen come from working class and they are considered as professional soldier not knight. The reason is it take a lot of money and time to train a knight so it is very hard to mobilize them in large number when situation demand. Most well trained and well armor knight offten come from weathy and powerful family or have the allegiance to the lord they serve, not the imperial commanders of the legion they are fighting alongside with. This may cause many trouble like conflict of interest or The knights who serve the opposing lords are on the same side. Despite all of this, knights in shining armor is not a rare sign in Imperial Legion. Their skills and valor alway have a place on the battlefield from commanding cavalry attack to facing enemy champion in a duel.

_Dragon Rider. _

Empire is the country with the most Dragon Rider on the Falmat continent thanks to Emperor Aurelius Antonius soon realized the power of this fierce, hard-to-domesticate animal. Saderan historians say that the Great Emperor had seen people of the Maran tribe in the Romalia mountain train dragons like training dogs and using them to drive away invaders with much larger numbers. Since then the Emperor has dreamed of building elite Dragon Rider units for later legions.

During the war, Dragon Rider's mission varied, from reconnaissance to piercing enemy lines on battlefields and there were times when the Empire army used only Dragon Rider troops to win a war. The superiority of the attack from above and the thick skin of dragon scales made dealing with the Dragon Rider force extremely difficult however. The simplest way for Empire's opponents is to create their own Dragon Rider force. However, this is not easy because most areas where the dragon can be domesticated on the Falmat continent are owned by the Empire (Except the southern subcontinent where the owner lives weak of dragons). However, the dominance of dragons on the battlefield did not last long. During the battle in Batigon in 248, Niflheim broke the Dragon Riders' attack with Ballista using steel arrows. This disastrous defeat along with the decline in the number of reproduction of captive dragons made the Dragon rider force only take on the role of scouting and harassing the enemy.

_Mercenary_

Falmat continent had a long tradition of using mercenaries since fighting is considered as a valuable skills with many kingdoms employing mercenaries as the main forces protecting their interests. Even the Empire and its policy of using professional soldiers and government loyalists often recruited mercenaries. Money paid to mercenaries is usually paid directly by the commander of the legion corps, which is taken from various sources. This led to many cases of mercenaries essentially fighting for the commander of the army, not the people who actually hired them (Emperor, Senate) during the Empire's Civil War.

The composition of mercenaries is diverse but still mostly veterans of the imperial army, wandering knights, landless farmers and young adventurers. Mercenaries are paid based on their abilities, the Dragon riders, professional archers and heavy cavalry are well-paid while the spearman, foot soldiers are quite cheap. Beast beasts and inferior races like the Orc Goblin were not allowed to join the Imperial army as a legionnaire but could still be hired as mercenaries and paid as well as anyone because in the world of mercenaries, tability is a measure of people, not bloodline. This is why some tribes such as the Tiger, Wolf and Orc, and human from poor families across the continent of Falmat are very excited to leave their homeland and join any mercenary army when they reach the age of mature.

The Empire government did not allow mercenary armies to build strongholds on their territory so those who sold swords had to reside in independent kingdoms or desolate areas that Sadera's government ignored. Some of famous Sellswords army and freecompany : Iron Raven, Sons of Tariz, Yellowman, Ironwood, Bloodclouds, Wreckingtalons


	10. Kayle IV

After meeting with Ambassador Dominic, Kayle was treated like a queen. Celie, the assistant of the ambassador, spent the entire morning leading her around Ginza shopping mall. They bought four jeans, six shirts, three T-shirts and other women's basics for her two weeks in Japan. The price was expensive as hell, but Kayle didn't have to pay a single coin. All expenses would be paid by the embassy, even her impromptu visist to the Spa . The secretary agreed that she needed to take care of the skin that had been winded and devastated by the sun and unforgiving desert winds , but when Kayle asked her to join, Celie shook her head:

"It's not for me."

The truth spoke for itself, Kayle was well-aware why she had recieved so many privileges. Lieutenant General Ron's reputation always follows every step of his daughter. She was not surprised by that, not any miracle or luck helped her avoided testimony and court martial for former Specter members.

"It's on me this time." Kayle said, "Is that okay?"

"But that is not what the ambassador order me to do."

"What did he tell you?"

"Ah..mm ... He said I had to make you feel comfortable. "

"I feel very comfortable having a friend to talk to when people put slices of cucumber on my faces. "

However, that was enough to convince Celie to repaint ten of her nails, the secretary refused any other service. Anyway, Celie looked pretty and elegant from head to toe. Her cream white dress suits her complexion, her flattering hair to honor her long face and eyes that was as blue as clear sky, It doesn't really a matter if there are a few flowers missing on her hair.

When standing next to Celie, Kayle became invisible. The major did not bother about it, but rather she was glad that she would not be the centre of attention for a while. Being the only woman in the world of men for so long brought only worse memories than people thought. At first, it seemed like an exciting adventure with anonymous letter, sweet and corny flirtations but when she had to look behind her back everytime she went the bathroom, it was not fun any longer.

While waiting for the masking cream to dry out, Kayle and her friend killed time with the television screen placed near the entrance, next to the colorful beauty magazine. They watched a boring advertising program for kitchen tools, a short anime of nearly twenty minutes, followed by a daily news report. Of course, Celie was always with her, diligently translating them into English.

"Today, the National Assembly has just approved a new spending budget instead of the old one which has been criticized. It is believed that the new budget will cause divisions within the ruling party but at the very least calms the opposition. "Celie yawned. Indeed, this news is even more boring than the kitchen knife advertisement earlier. "The next news, a JSDF soldier was killed, two others were injured in a traffic accident in the Special Zone yesterday. They said the soldier named Nakato Mori, twenty year old, a specialist of the 3th motorized regiment died because the his car fell down a steep slope in bad weather. Poor man, he is too young to die like that "

There are much worse types of death. She recalled the bodies lying on the street, many of them was damaged so bad that they could not the difference between them, the screams of women when they realized that the person lying there was their child, their husband, father or younger brother. Oh forget, the curse, too, from those women or brothers in arms in the unit.

"The second accidents of the week and the eighth in five months. So far, there have been nine JSDF soldiers killed by accident and twenty-one wounded. "The secretary smiled wryly." And I thought it would be safe to be a soldier in peacetime. "

At least one person died Kayle was at Fort Bragg, it seems that his name is Jimmy Brown. She wasn't sure because it had been so long but it was truth that he fell from a helicopter to the ground and broke his neck.

"Sometimes death have a weird sense of humor. Do you ever hear of Bobby Leach? "

Celie shook her head.

"He crossed Nigara Falls in an barrel, walked on the airplane wing with a rope around his waist but on a beautiful day, that indestructible man stepped on the orange peel on his way back home from the pub and died . "

When they exited the mall, the sun was high but the air was still cold and wet. Kayle wore only a thin leather jacket outside her T-shirt with a pair of high-heel, and as the result, had her teeth chattering against the cold wind. There was never a day when she thought she remembered the scorching heat of the desert so much, at least back then she knew some tricks to avoid the sand flying into her eyes and tying the headscarf properly.

"The weather will be colder in the coming months." Celie breathed out a white breath and smiled. "It's just the end of autumn."

"Fortunately we wouldn't be here at the snows fall" Kayle rub both hands together"How long have you been in Japan?"

"Two years. At first, I worked at the Japan-US cultural exchange office for about six months. After that, I was transferred to the Kyoto. One year after the Ginza event, Mr. Dominic himself asked me to be his secretary and unoffical second assistant, but I always found all of this a little strange. Why he chose me personally while there were many other candidates out there who were more talented and more experienced "

_Not Everyone have such nice legs and lovely waist like you, dummy_ . Kayle felt that it was gonna be rude to speak it out lound, so she kept her mounth shut.

On Chuo Dori pedestrian street, they saw the infamous Gate. Actually, the thing they saw was the huge dome that the Japanese built up to prevent people from looking at their treasures. There was only one entrance with ten soldiers dressed in combat uniforms and two Type-90 tanks standing stately like two Babylonian sphinxes, coldly putting their guns on the passersby.

"Have you ever seen that gate yet?" Kayle asked.

"Several times, it was before they erected the walls and dome around it. The Gate looked nothing special, in my opinion, it is smaller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Patrick said there were inscriptions on the gate but no one could read them. "

_That damn sneaky bastard_. Fortunately, he did not accompany Kayle but Celie instead. If he was here, she was afraid she could stop herself from breaking his face. A dumb move, Kayle knew, but she couldn't stand his arrogant attitude any longer. Why do the white collar from Langley always tried so hard to be a dick? Looks like they always did their best to piss other people off one way or another.

"The Japanese say the peoples on the other side of the gate use a language similar to Latin called Falmat and some other jargon. However, the inscription I refer to is not Falmat, it is much older, so old so that indigenous people cannot read it. "

This was a good thing to hear, although her Latin is not considered to be excellent but it was still better than learning something entirely new. Arabic was the most difficult language Kayle has ever known, there are too few vowels and when they speak quickly, it was impossible to understand. Even though Kayle spent two hours every day to improve her Arabic, in the end, she gave up and brought along an interpreter.

"The ambassador said you knew Latin. Did you go to a seminary?"Celie asked.

"No, I have a tutor. Did they teach Latin in seminary ? "

"I'm not sure. My father studied in once when he was young but he knew Latin because he wanted to be priest someday. Of course it was before he met my mother. When I was twelve, he began to teach me. A_ beautiful language for beautiful people _I remember him saying that. Every night, he sat down reading classical poems for my brothers and me before going to bed. "

Back then, Kayle struggled with a confusing verb conjugation just because her father thought it was fashionable. Their teacher was Mr. Sober and Mr. Sober would never read poetry, but instead punish her hard for every grammatical error. He hated Kayle for some reason that she never understood and favored Louie to the point some would consider it ridiculous.

"My father vehemently protested when he knew I was going to the Special Region. He even want to fly over here and drag me home. "

" But you're still here. "

A fleeting smile appeared on Celie's lips.

" _Audentes Fortuna iuvat._ I've come too far to turn around then" (Latin : Fortune favours the bold)

_Now, it still have time to do so_. It would be a little strange if Kayle said dads always knew what was best. Who knows what is waiting for them out there? Dominic was so excited by the prospect of becoming the first Americans arrive in the new world that he would risk his life and his subordinate's. The CIA clearly had a plot in this, Kayle could smell the stink everywhere but she still didnt know what it was yet. According to her bloody experience, when an idiot and the guys who was expert on pulling the strings like Patt on the same side, people around should be more cautious. Thing could go south faster than they thought.

"Out there can be very dangerous." Kayle said, "As far as I remember the place are standing on was the battlefield."

"The Japanese signed a treaty with the Empire, the war is over, Major . Pattrick says everything is under control. "

They signed a piece of paper that anyone could use to wipe their ass and when the CIA claimed there was nothing to worry about, you knew you had to run away quickly.

About fifty yards away from them, a group of a dozen foreign tourists were taking selfies with two tanks near the barrier. Initially, the guards paid no attention to these people, but when one of them tried to climb over the fence, the Japanese chased them away.

When Celie took out her phone to call a taxi, Kayle suddenly heard a familiar sound. The sound of a heavy engine roared, the sound of tank chains clenched down on the road, strangled the space and made the pigeons to dissolve in fear. Kayle looked up to see a looming armor appear at the crossroads, leading a team of four military trucks that painted in olive green. The armor looked similar to Bradley, though the barrel was a little longer.

The convoy stopped in front of the security gate, the guards raised the barrie bar so that the armor could roll in, while the four trucks still hold their posistion.

Suddenly, Soldiers jumped out of the trunk of the vehicle under the orders of the grey-haired officer, and immediately lined up in four, guns in safety position, fingers off the trigger. Soon undulating green waves were formed right in the middle of the pedestrian street. The camouflage of this unit was darker than the Multi cam of the US Army, so Kayle guessed t on the other side of the Gate, the climate could be humid with a thicker vegetation than the Middle East, where she was too familiar with.

A green beret member once told Kayle that the best method of assessing quality of the troop was to look at how they held their weapons. Amateur like to wear guns hanging from their sides or carry them on their shoulders, which makes it difficult to react in case of being sudden attacked, not to mention the danger of putting the barrel forward which could cause serious negligent discharge. Professionals always wear weapons on breast, hands off the trigger, ready to improvise at any time.

"Not bad at all." This company had the power to take out entire the half-ass militia battalion that Kayle's had trained in Iraq.

However, the performance of the JSDF soldier did not impress people. It was easy to see that locals don't seem to care much about their soldiers or the huge building in the heart of Ginza. There were still a few people who turned their heads to look, commenting for grant, but most still pretending that nothing happened. Even Celie, the secretary observes everything with a sigh. For those who had no interest in military, the scene was nothing special but a bunch of men dressing in funny way and four rough trucks, but even so, they could realize something strange here.

"Who are those people?" Celie pointed at the group of soldiers wearing caps at the end of the formation. Kayle saw eight people all. They wore t-shirts of all colors under bulletproof vests, looked relaxed and carefree, in contrast to the solemnity of the rest of the company. "Why do Japanese give weapons to civilians?

"They are not civilians." Kayle shook her head replying. "It must be a special task force of the JSDF."

Even their weapons were advanced type that Kayle had never seen before. Probably a version of the HK416 series or a new M4 variant.

"But why aren't they wearing military uniforms?" Celie gasped in surprise. "I thought everyone in the army had to wear some kind of military uniform."

"Um… it's true but most men in the special forces never dress properly. You know, working makes they ignored usual standards, plus no one bothered to check what the hell they wear on the field. "

Indeed, commanders, including Kayle, wouldn't even bat their eyes to bullshit such as grooming or uniform as long as the tasks were completed quickly and beautifully, and that only encouraged these fancy boys invest more effort and time on their looks. As Kayle remembered, there was a time SEAL favored clean shaved face and ducking hat, in order to distinguish themselves from Delta rivals, who were famous for their long beard and gray cap. Fisher often weared flamboyant shirt bought in Hawaii when charging the low hills of the Hindu Kush. A third of Specter had short boxed beard while some adopted mustache and sneaker.

"It seems that your life is not that difficult at all" The secretary said, "I always thought that in the military, everything was about rules and discipline."

"That is the reward for sitting on the same spot waiting your target pass by for several days, peeing in your pants and ready jump on the plane to go whenever you are order to." Kayle smiled wryly. "We have best food, latest toys and much more liberity compared with the rest of US military. "

" That's strange, then. If that's the case, these men are gonna be the lucky ones. They can enjoy all those privileges without breaking a sweat ? The war is over. "

" Damn it! "Kayle swore quitely.

Surprisingly, the obvious truth came from a random secretary. Why didn't she think about it before? She should have noticed the abnormality at first. Time of idleness seem to do dull her judgment. Deadly accidents, special units, specialized weapons. She had forgotten that it was not just the CIA that could lie. One day, Kayle must thank Celie for saving her ass or should secretary must thank her for saving their?

"Who in charge of our security?"

Ceile rolled his eyes. "I don't know. You have to ask Pattrick, he has more information than me. "She stared at Kayle." What's wrong? "

There was fear in the secretary's voice. That's good because at least Celie was not as crazy as her boss.

"I need to talk to them," she said. "There are some things I need to clarify."

In the afternoon Pattrick Hammer called Kayle to the embassy, following him was a tailor to take her measurements for the new uniform. .

"I have never done a army uniform before." The tailor said after taking her waist measurement "But I believe I can do it."

"How long will it take?" Patt asked.

" Five days, I guess."

"Three."

"How can I make it with such deadline?" The tailor was taken by surpirse "it's outrageous"

"Well then, in that case you should consider from now on, there would be any orders from the US embassy ever again. "

When the tailor left, Patt gave her a explanation for his rudeness.

"Tomorrow we will hold a press conference. Everyone will be present. Everyone here is the media, American diplomats, representatives of Japan and countless guests from our allies. Admiral Flint is also present even though he has nothing to do with the event. Mr. Dominic insisted on inviting the him, I was of course against it but it seems like they are cronies. This make me to rearrange every VIP seats. What's a mess! "

He took the layout of the press conference on the table.

"The ambassador will sit between the admiral and the Japanese spokesperson, next to him is ..."

"Is Colonel Hart in charge of our security?" Kayle interrupted him

_Pocker _is the living legends of the US special forces. If the government wants his diplomatic convoy to reach the Imperial capital alive, they must come to him.

"Hmm ... Where do you have this information from?" There was some intimidation in his voice.

"Just my guess" Kayle lied "Is it true?"

"We don't share information if it's not necessary. You used to work for us, you know our way better than anyone else." Patt gave her a warning look and turned to the diagram." You will sit next to Norton tomorrow and remember to answer the journalist as I told you . In case of a question on the sidelines, I will handle it. "

" I understand. But can I meet Colonel Hart? "

"What do you need to see him for?" The spy replied angrily "Don't tell me you're going to whore yourself to him like you did to Moyes."

Kayle's anger flared up but she managed to hold it back. If not, Pattrick Hammer would be unconscious on the floor.

"I have no intention to Colonel Hart but to his deput." Kayle said, "Lieutenant Colonel Emerson is a close friend to my father and I am very fond of him. It's been 6 years since we last talked to each other, so I thought I should visit and say hi "

Patt looks semi-disbelieving. She was afraid he would refuse, but if he did, she had to find another way. Maybe Ceile will help or be her father. Thinking about helping her father, Kayle almost laughed. What do you have to say to him? Oh hi dad, I doubt our beloved army and government were pushing me to death, and by the way, can you contact Colonel Hart for me?

"Shino Hill, about forty kilometers away from here." He said curtly. "Are you going to go now?"

"After the press conference tomorrow if you find it convenient." Kayle smiled wryly. "Thank you."

Kayle left the room in victory. Hoping the colonel would listen to her then intervene. Is not ! It would be best if he tries to get rid of this risky voyage before they all return home in body bags.

.

.

* * *

… And may God bless these pioneers, grant them wisdom and courage on the road to come. God blesses America. "

Ambassador Dominic finished his speech in thunderous applause. Kayle did not know whether they were happy because of his eloquence or because the long monologue finally came to an end.

Dominic had prepared a speech of more than twenty pages, promising a prospect that half of the audience would fall asleep while the other half didn't understand a third of what he said. The classical history fan shows all of his knowledge within thirty minutes, starting with quoting the calculus of more than a thousand years ago, the immortal words of Perciles, Agustus, Marcus Aurelius, then the principles of primitive materialism, and of course indispensable verses of Iliad.

Kayle only listened to him for about five minutes before starting to play with her pencil and notebook. She painted Dominic, fat and silly, riding donkey. His right hand holding the spear, the left hand holding the shield, charging against the windmill. Patt also had a role in her little world, he was ragged, filthy, looked ridiculous with a large hump on his back.

"Thank God, it's finally over" Norton Strange sat beside her grumbling. "Everyone only has a maximum of five minutes but he…."

The biologist, Dr. Norton also wrote a speech on the importance of studying flora and fauna in the Special Region, however, his effort may have been in vain. Patt stated loudly that it was time for the speech of representatives from Japanese government , then reporters could freely ask questions.

The Japanese spokesperson stood up to praise the friendship between the two countries, the prospect of both sides' cooperation in the Special Zone and a commitment which she knew totally false:

"The Japanese government and the JSDF will promote all necessary measures to ensure security for the US delegation. "

_Even your men are getting killed out there, how can you ensure our safety? _Perhaps she was paranoid, or it was the truth. Nine people died and eight accidents within a month, even the South Sudan army would found it hard to achieve that achievement for the JSDF. The CIA certainly knew what the hell was going on in the Special Region but they still tried to turn a blind eye to the problem no matter what. Kayle was damn sure of it. Those sneaky bastard had been ignoring the fact that the Sadam had stopped uranium processing after the Gulf War then lured the U.S into another fucking war where she and many men got shot for their country.

Yet Kayle still hasn't seen the whole picture.

If the Centre intelligence agency was aware of the danger, why did they still throw money into it? All the night yesterday, lying in bed, Kayle thought about it for a long time. There must be some reason that made the White House, Langley, ready to put their people at risk. Everyone wanted to have their share in the new world, Patt was right to say that, but the problem was whether they were ready to defied everything to achieve that goal as he claimed?

Kayle thought they were but she couldn't understand how the U.S could set its foundation in the Special Region by having a failed mission with a dozen of body bags.

"The gentlemen to wear a brown jacket on the left." The ambassador said, "Yes, next to the beauty in lovely pink dress. Now I'm sorry for choosing you instead of her. "

A laugh broke out from Dominic's joke, the biggest laugh was the young man in a jacket. He has an nice looking guy with beautiful white grin and manly beard. Kayle appreciate that very much. Despite whatever people liked to think about her, Kayle was still a woman and she has her own needs. On the way from Okinawa to Tokyo, there are only three weirdos around her, Havey the clowns, the old fat pilot Christ, Cooper would look nicer if it wasn't for that hooky nose. At the embassy, Dominic proves that historians were always bad lovers right up to every word, but Pat or to be more precise assistant Pattrick Hammer was the real nightmare. His face was not too ugly to look at, even Kayle thought some women would like him, intense green eyes that were very attractive to female.

However, The thing that scares Kayle and many people here was his habit of harassing, stinging, bullying. Patt liked what he did and he was also very good at it, until now Kayle didn't even once win a shouting match against that damn fox. Seemingly, he always knew where to hit, to lure her into the trap then launch the killing blow. _Someday, I have to see if his hand is as fast as his mouth._

"I am from the New York Times. If what is written in the summary is true, then there is a military attaché in your convoy. "The reporter said in a warm voice." Can you tell me what is the intention of the United States in this matter? "

"We are clear on the role of the military attache, but since all of this is unprecedented, so I think it is better for Major Kayle Wilson explained it . "

Patt had prepared an answer to this kind of question for her from previously "Under the appointment U.S Sate department and Department of Defense, I was given the task of introducing to the other side of the gate - or the Empire as people call it - the basic knowlegde on the military of the U.S. "

"It sounds like a threat. Is this the way the United States implements its policy in the new world? We have a powerful force and will use it to om you if you don't want to compromise. "

_Slow down, handsome_. Kayle glanced at Patt, who was standing near the technical area with Celie. The agent immediately signaled her to respond with "I cannot comment on the US policy or its intent in the region."

But Kayle knew she was better than that and Patt couldn't have her doing whatever he said.

"Let's consider my role is the same as every researcher and scholar in the delegation - introduce to people in the Special Region about the United States. America is great, I believe everyone here agrees with that. Culturally diverse society, economy, democracy were values that made us prosperous, but the United States would not become great without a mighty army to protect those values. You should remember that we gain freedom from fighting rather than having it delievered so United States government sees it as a shortcoming if this detail is forgotten. Moreover, according to the information we have, the Empire has a culture that uphold its military to very high standard so my presence is absolutely necessary. "

The reporter and colleagues were a bit surprised, they perhaps expecting a preposterous answer, not an eloquent statement.

"Thank you, Major," He nod in appreciation "What about…."

"You can only ask one question at the time, my good man" Dominic gently reminded him "You have asked two."

The reporter nodded in agreement but light eyes didn't .

"Any other questions? Oh i almost forget, the lady in the lovely pink dress, please "

With that, everything went on for half an hour. Kayle received two more questions. One was about how she felt when she was the first female American soldier to set foot into Special Region, Kayle merely replied, "Very honored." The second was much more annoying, a bald head reporter from CNN wanted to know about security task of their convoy. Kayle refused to comment - Patt had warned her not to reveal that the security team had only eight people.

"The public is very worried about the safety of our men, Major." The reporter did not seem satisfied with the answer. "There have been rumors of insecurity in the Region."

"I think our government and the JSDF will do their best to ensure our safety."

A lie. A few days ago, she told herself that she would not lie to anyone else, starting with Christ but now ...

"Damn it." Kayle muttered.

Eight men would be too few to make the difference, though the gunmen might be from Seal team 6. Although the enemy the Japanese were facing in the Special Region could only be equipped with outdate melee weapon and crossbow but the years fighting taught Kayle lessons to life: All those who intend to kill were equally dangerous whether in their hands is a stick of wood or a rifle. And the truth had spoken for itself, JSDF had lost nine people in a single month

The situation that Japanese was having right now was the same situation that the United States had during the Iraq war. They had overwhelming victories in conventional warfare with superior weapons but when the battle turned to unconventional warfare, problems began to arise. JSDF could conceals their casualties in the meantime, but would the next deaths be that easy? Once the story was revealed, their fight would really begin. On a sweltering night, Roland sadly told Kayle the truth when she asked if they could win the war:

"We have two enemies. One is the gunmen chanting the name of Alla out there. Two is more than hundred millions of Americans back home. Let's assume I can kill all those fanatics but how are you going to fight your compatriots? "

Roland's prediction finally came true. Specter was destroyed by the people it swears to protect. Kayle didn't know if Roland was still alive, what would he think about the situation right now, but she herself didn't have any regrets on the end of their unit. They did terrible things and had to receive karmic retribution. Fisher, Carrick, and Roland paid off the debt. It was probably Kayle's turn now.

But Celie or Dominic did not deserve that outcome. Even the asshole like Pattrick Hammer didn't have to die, though he often tested her nerves over and over again. After all, Patt was no different from Kayle, a blind man who obeyed the orders of the superior.

"Are you alright, Kayle?" Dr. Norton suddenly turned to look at her. Norton was not familiar with the stuff in military, so he often called her by name instead of the rank "Look at you like a trapped bear."

"I'm not used to this."

"I understand. Sitting still is easy to make people like you bored. It was strange because they used lions, leopards, bears, and other fearsome beasts to honor warriors. Do you know that predators spend most of their time sitting in the shade of a tree and sleeping? "

" Oh? "Kayle petended to be amused." Maybe we should choose another animal, something much more industrious would be sufficient "

"Beaver is a good choice. This kind of rodent seems to work relentlessly. Each day of them is a series of busy actions, from nibbling on trees, pulling trees to the nest, to building dams. When people come to destroy its dam to clear the flow, beaver does not simply move to another place, it only waits for a while then resumes its old work. You can call its action brave, but I see beaver is a subbornt creature.

" _An army rushed into the battlefield with a banner of beaver nibbling on the tree_ , Kayle covered her mouth with her hand to not laugh too loudly. Embroidering the portrait of Justin Bieber on the shoulders was less ridiculous.

"Sorry, we only have enough time for another question." Patt stepped out from behind the wings. "Mr. Dominic has prepared a buffet. We have seafood sushi, rice balls, pudding and ice cream waiting in the next room. "

But no one asked any questions, maybe they gradually realized that it was not possible to get anything interesting here. Patt had prepared a lot of perfect responses to every question thrown at them, so perfect that the reporter's efforts broke like waves broke on rocky shores.

Or maybe they are hungry. The combination of Sushi and Ice Cream, East and West was really hard to resist. The ambassador led them out of the annunciation room, Admiral Flint walked beside him, behind were two Japanese and four others Kayle didn't know the name of. Dr. Norton told Patt that he had some things to do so he could not accompany with them. The sp did not say anything, just nodded silently in response.

"He is here." Patt told her "Out of the hall."

"Who?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Emerson. Who else can it be?" Patt exasperated. "Last night, I called to tell him to come here. It would be more convinient. You doesn't know ways around Tokyo so I think this is for the best. "

Whether it was Hart or Emerson didn't matter that much, as long as they were ready to listen to what she was about to say. Deep inside, Kayle preferred to talk to Emerson because she and Hart were completely strangers to each other.

The agent continued the story in boredom. "However, that old colonel also asked to meet the new military attaché so Emerson will take you to Shino. "

Kayle had no objection to that. What he was saying was somewhat true, she must have spent the whole day crawling to Hart's place. The base on Shino Hill located in remote area, completely separated from the residential area, so there were no bus routes.

"Thank you."

"Just finish your work and come back here. The remaining members of the delegation will be here in the afternoon. The ambassador wants to have an internal meeting. "He took a folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Kayle." This is from the ambassador to the colonel, give it to Emerson. "

After that, Patt followed the flow of people walking towards the buffet.

The embassy hall was divided into three separate section: the department that received the visa application, the consulting room and the public relations department. Normally, the hall was crowded but today the ambassador stopped all daily activities to prepare for the press conference so there were only a few security guards and employees presented.

She found the lieutenant colonel in the hallway near the entrance. Emerson sat comfortably on the sofa, his silver hair brushed backward from front to back, staring intently at the " Washington Crossing The Delaware " on the opposite wall.

"Uncle Emerson." Kayle called out "Thank you for coming here to pick me up."

"Major Wilson." Emerson stood upright and saluted her according to military protocol.

Kayle blushed, awkwardly returned his courtesy " Lieutenant Colonel, long time no see."

He looked at her from head to toe and gave her a friendly smile. Emerson rarely smiled and therefore, each of his smiles always had a special meaning.

"The last time we met, you was just a pretty seventeen-year-old girl who liked drinking Puan and talking about the bride's dress color at the wedding party," Emerson said. "Now look at you! I almost didn't recognize you. Don't misunderstand what I mean, you are still pretty like the days before, only different. You father must be very proud. "

_Not as proud as you think. _ He probably did not know that they did not talk to each other for nearly four years.

"You also is different, uncle Emerson. Back then, you never let your hair grow too long. "

Kayle thought that combed hairstyle made a man looked extremely sexy, but this was only true for guys at her age. Emerson had passed that age, so this really needed to be rethought.

"At that time I was still in the Middle East but now ... Well, we should go. Hart has many admirable virtues, unfortunately patience is not among them. We can talk on the way to the base. "

"As you wish. "

A white SUV parked in front of the building, empty behind the steering wheel so Kayle knew Uncle Emerson came alone. She opened the door and sat in the front seat.

"They told me to give this to you." She passed the paper to him. "The ambassador's assistant said this is for Colonel Hart."

Emerson held the paper close to his face, his eyes narrowed when reading the words on it. Kayle suddenly realized that he was not wearing glasses.

"Red, Toyota," Emerson muttered, his eyes suddenly darkening. Kayle was still able to notice it even it only happened in half a second.

"What?" She asked "What do you mean by that."

"Nothing. I'm just taliking to myself "Emerson folding paper and stuffed it into his pocket " Seatbelt on, Kayle. Japanese polices are strict and have no mercy. "

" Oh! My bad. "

She slid the seatbelt over her shoulder and felt a little strange. When serving in Iraq, whether she was a Humvee or a civilian car, she did not have the habit of fastening her seatbelt. Danger always existed behind every corners of every road, on the rooftops and underneath the cloak, so the first thing she learned was that the battle could break out anytime, anywhere. A seatbelt would slow the reflexion of the occupant in the vehicle and slow here always mean death.

"It's hard to get rid of old habit, don't you think? Hart called it instinct, but I don't agree with him. Instinct is born with us. Hunger and crying are instincts, but did you know how to adjust the iron sight from a young age, distinguish the sound of bullets in the air and measure the distance of the target? It is not a natural instinct. We are taught to do so. They break us to the very essence of we are made of then stuffed into us discipline, obedience before rebuilding us back up and created a new being which is more dangerous than the old one. Gradually the warrior also accepts that it is his person and forgets his former man. "

" You regret having joined the army? "

"No . It is true that the military and the wars have made me cry, make me disgust myself, lose faith in life, make me just want to blow my head off but strangely I don't regret it. When I returned from Iraq, I thought that I was too tired to go on, that my military home was coming to an end and I would spend the rest of my life at the estate, but you see, I'm still here. Like it or not, i must admit that the new battlefield is where i really belong, and the idealistic young man from Moblie that year is gone forever. "

" I disagree". Kayle said, "Time is what you need."

"Let me tell you this, Kayle" Giong suddenly became upset. "Once you lived in the wild, you could never be a dog any longer."

.

.

* * *

The special district of Minato, one of the twenty-three eastern special zones bearing in itself the overwhelming splendor of the largest city on the planet with shopping malls, restaurants, and clubs located side by side on narrow strips of land running along Tokyo Bay. Although only at the end of autumn and most Japanese people were not Christian, Kayle still sees eye-catching pine trees, sparkling string lights for the coming Christmas.

It would be remiss to not mention the skyscraper, which the Tokyo big cities like always had. In Toranomon, these buildings were like mushrooms growing after rain, the latter was higher than the previous one, arrogantly covering its great shadow over ten million creatures crowded below. Celie once said that a bowl of ramen here was more valuable than her salary. And that's true, when Mr. Emerson stopped in front of a humble tiny grocery store so that Kayle could buy some pastries for breakfast, she was able to experience how expensive it could be.

Sixteen dollars for two Sticker and a can of Coke!

"More like robbing than selling" Kayle muttered at the counter.

In response to her complain, the cashier's smile couldn't be more cheerful. Apparently he did not know English.

_Fortunately, Celie only paints her nails, if not I'm going to be broke. _

Kayle brought two thousand dollars in cash to Tokyo with two credit cards, one was opened by her with one hundred thousand in the account, the other was from CIA worth more than million. Of the four members who directed Spectre's combat operations, only Kayle was the only one alive and not in jail so spymasters did not hesitate to do whatever it took as long as Kayle accepted to bring their secrets to the grave. Although she only told them to transfer herself to a peaceful place, not mentioning anything about money, they ended up giving her a million dollar, which according to that strange bald man, she could it temporarily called a farewell gift from them.

Kayle intended to spend her savings on Louie. Her brother dreamed of having a private restaurant at Boardway, where he would fill the stomachs of upstart stock broker his with dreams. It would be very expensive, he told her, but it was also worth the effort. As for CIA money, Kayle didn't know what to do with it. Each dollar was filled with Carrick's blood, Roland's as well as the dead in their hands.

_Blood money._

Maybe Kayle will give it to charity, or to Louie. But no matter what, she decided not to spend a cent.

"Here you are." Kayle put the five thousand yen bill on the counter. The cashier returned three thousand yen and said goodbye to her with a silly and weird English accent.

"Thank you for using our service."

Paying stupid money wasn't enough, Kayle was also bothered by two Irish tourists outside the shop. They were newlyweds who just arrived in Japan last week and looked ridiculous. The husband was about fifty years old, his hair was gray and curly, wearing a small clumsy purple knit sweater. In contrast to him was a black hair wife, about half of his age and also taller than him 8 inch. Her taste for fashion was also more delicate than that of her husband, a elegant black trench coat wrapped around her slender body, thick knee boots to keep the legs warm

_What a weird couple they are_ . Kayle couldn't help but wondered how he had managed to get with such a beautiful girl. It must be a good story.

"Can you take a picture for us?" The young wife gave Kayle phone and then walked over to the statue of Maneki Neko (A luck sympol in the shape of a cat waving his hand) in front of grocery store "Come here darling, stand next to me."

The man waddled over, wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and smiled:

"Wait, you should step a few steps back first, madam" He held up two fingers in a V "We want to take the cat as a background"

Kayle did what he told with a sigh. Because the husband was shorter than the wife and the cat, it took her a while to find the perfect frame.

"Thank you so much, officers." The wife giggled as she removed the silk gloves then clutching hands to Kayle "I'm Colleen Mcknight, nice to meet you."

"Honey. Did you forget that you already have a husband? "The man pretended to .

"Oh, I'm sorry" Colleen gave her husband a kiss. After that, she looked at Kayle with an affectionate expression. "It's hard to give up the habit of using a girl's name, don't you think so? Let me introduce myrself again, my name is Collena Wilson, nice to meet you ... "

" Kayle ... Kayle Wilson, "she replied, and immediately regretted.

"Oh my, John, she have the same last name as your." Collena exclaimed happily, her eyes shining as if catching gold. "We have to take some pictures together . Come and help me, my husband. "

Collena pulled Kayle to stand next to the cat without asking if she agreed or not

"Just make sure it's going be a nice one " Said Collena.

"I know."

Though she was annoyed, Kayle wasn't that rude to spoil their honeymoon, so she could only smile and smile and hope it would end as quickly as possible. She took two photos with Collena and one with her husband John. At the very least, John was somewhat more polite (or because of the fear of a beautiful wife's jealousy). He simply stood next to Kayle, his posture was strained, and did not touch her as freely as Collena.

"Do you think we have…." John looked up, even though her height was only one meter seven "We had the same ancestor?"

"I don't know." Kayle turned her head and looked down. "How about you?"

"I think not."

Lieutenant-General Ron had taught Kayle and her brothers about family history, in fact the one who was forced to listen to the long sermon was Louie and not her, Kayle was just accidentally nearby and playing with dolls. According to her father's story, the great grandfather Tom Wilson was a confederacy officer who defected to the North when he saw that the war seemed about to come to the end. It was certainly not glorious nor honnorable but this treacherous act was the starting point for the affluence of the Wilson family.

After the war ended, Tom was given a piece of land in Boston to live, but in 1870 he sold it to the city and moved to Virginia with a small amount of money. There, he built his fortune by hiring white people to grow corn, then growing coffee, then rushing into the construction industry which was very profitable during the reconstruction period. No one is more successful than him in the bidding because none of contractors could find a hard-working and cheap labor force as he had.

The administration at the time liked to force businessman to employ black people to work with well-paid job to get votes, but Tom still ignored that order and continued to take advantage of the South's ex-veterans who were willing to do anything to get paid. At first, Kayle thought her ansector had to be very tough to do this but to be fair, how could she and Louie know that his wife Amanda Prime, the daughter of Kayleuel Prime, the governor of Virginia, the woman that had never once been asked for her hand in 45 years? A few years later, when she had the chance to witness the beauty of her great-grandmother, she immediately understood why no one borther asking for Amanda's hand, and the image of brave ancestor in her also disappeared in a puff of smoke. She remembered Louie laughing with tears in his eyes when she saw the painting while Lieutenant General Ron was angry.

"A practical man with brain. He always thought of the future, such nuisance ... didn't matter much. "

"How can you call that nuisance? "He pointed to the big ugly nose of their great grandmother" I thought he was very brave and indeed he was. "

"I don't like your attitude and don't you call it courage. Not every war wins with courage but intelligence always does. He had chosen the federation because he knew that the confederacy was a lost cause, people might say him was coward but think about it, What would happen if he stayed and fought? A glorious death? I have seen corpses on the battlefield and there was no glory in them, Louie, all was a stench that made you want to puke. How can the beauty compared to the legacy that he left for us? The woman fade over time but the name Tom Wilson will lives forever and the proof of that is over a hundred years later, the three of us still stand here to talk about his greatness

_Greatness ?More like ruthlessness._

Her father also inherited his characteristic. He had climbed as high as he could in the army and now he again sat in the Oval Office as a national security adviser. Maybe Kayle should stop wondering why her life was tied to the shady CIA people.

"Hurry up, darling, we have to watch the Gate and the cherry garden too" John urged his wife who seem to be into taking selfie with the cat.

"Why should we have to see that ugly gate? You saw it in the newspaper a dozen times already. I want to go see the cherry blossom first. "

"If you say so but i still want to see the gate. "

If she remember correctly, this wasnt the season for cherry blossoms and they couldn't expect to pass tight security of the JSDF undetected.

"If you want to watch some flowers, you should go north." Kayle said, "Near the palace is a famous flower spot next to the canal."

The channel named Chidorigafuchi but she could not pronounce it.

"Great, thank you, Kayle" Collena turned to her husband "Go get the car, honey. Hop hop"

The man nodded, happily complied his wife's orders without any question and the way she said it did made him looked more like a servant than a husband to her.

"Did you bring your own car here?" Kayle was surprised. "Do you need any special papers?"

"Oh no, you're wrong. Just a car we hire in Tokyo "Collena rubbed hands together " Seven thousand yen for the old Toyota, if you want a new model, you have to pay twelve thousand. I told John to rent a new one, but all he got was this junk. Poor my life! Do you know he sent all the lottery money to the bank and never touch the interest? There are five million pounds in the pocket and he spent money as if he were a Scot. Needless to say how much I got tired of that sweater, but John still didn't want to throw it away. "

So it turned out to be the lottery. In a few years, maybe John Wilson would have to scratch his head and looked half of his fortune disappeared after a noisy divorce. Kayle suddenly felt sorry for him but it was none of her business.

"Goodbye, Collena. Nice to meet you. "

"The honor is mine." Collena laid kiss on Kayle's cheek. "It's a pity that you are a woman. Earlier I thought that today was my lucky day. It's not easy to meet a handsome guy in military uniform but if ... "

" Goodbye " Kayle interrupted and left immediately.

The idea that was about to come out of Collena's mouth made Kayle goosebumps. Previously, someone had made a similar proposal to Kayle and she ended up transfering to another unit.

Lieutenant Colonel Emerson stood in the middle of the Japanese crowd next to the traffic light and she almost missed her companion if not for his iridescent hair and his distinguished height. Today, Emerson did not wear his uniform but simple brown suit with trench coat instead so it was easy to mistake him for a civil servant who was about to retire.

Maybe that was the case, this time it might be the lieutenant colonel's last mission. Kayle did not like to call this "War" because it made her feel like she was about to kill people or was about to be killed by people, moreover, there wouldn't be such a thing after she meeting Hart Sayer.

Poker had considerable influence on this matter, if he spoke out his concern, the White House would definitely consider the decision. Her country had to wait a little longer before building soft power on Falmat, as long as the JSDF had not yet wiped out the resistants over there, it would not be foolish to send men and equipment to the special regions.

"You are very talented, aren't you?" He gave her a mystic smile. "I have heard many stories about Specter, most of them are not very pleasant but no one dares to doubt their abilities. The death of Abu Aman the Drilling Machine deserves to be in the textbook at Fort Bragg, the raid at outskirts of Mosul is even more amazing, but how could Specter know that the leader of the Unified Iraqi was there ? I and Hart have been hunting him all year long and have not gained anything ... "

" We have good intelligence. "

If he didn't get excited to visit his wife, Emerson's hunt would be far from ending. There was no raid here, Kayle and Carrick simply pretended to be two WHO employees knocking on doors to collect medical information. There was no need to say how stunned they were when they found out Amit Musab was hiding in there and play Call Of Duty online.

When he opened the door with the PS3 controller in his hand, Carrick shouted, "Gun! Gun "and then" May ". The leader of unified Iraqi collapsed at the door step with a big coin-sized hole on his head. The silly things people read in later newspapers were all crafted by the CIA to score points with the public.

" I happened to see your interview on television. Well done, my whole life never had such a powerful speech. And the other two tourists, you gave them a good impression of the US military. A good commander, a great spokesperson, and now a nice and gentle army officer . Tell me, Kayle, are you still hiding anything else in your sleeves? "

_Is he complimenting or mocking me?_

"There was a guy in my unit taught me to play blackjack and how to cheat while playing blackjack but I am still bad at it."

She pull out a cigarette from pack and lit it up, Emerson immediately scowled at that

"Some Marines nearly have me broke at Ramandi if it wasn't for Roland and his habbit of saving damsels in distress. I used to play the piano pretty well, but it is best if you don't ask me to perform, for seven or eight years I haven't touched a single key yet. "

" When did you learn to smoke? "Emerson asked solemnly like a father who just realized the smell of cannabis in his house. "This devilish thing kills more people than chemical weapons."

"In Iraq," she said. "Back then, dying of cigarettes was the least concern for me."

The farther the west, the lower the house after every mile of the road. They were on the outskirts of the outskirts and soon, the hills would appear just behind the simple roofs of baked bricks built from the last century. If the center of Tokyo was a modern westernized girl, its outskirts represent the old Japanese woman, gentle, resigned and thoughtful.

"What Colonel Hart look like?"

There were dozens of rumors about the legendary warrior of the United States, but like Team 22 in general, the man named Hart Sayer remained a big question mark.

"Impatient, like to act, hate the white-collars, especially the CIA. The last hoax of weapon of mass destruction is too hard to swallow to him so you should be prepared. "Emerson grabbed the cigarette in her mouth and tossed it out of the car door." And don't be foolish to smoke in front of Hart. That old man hates cigarettes even more than hates spies. "

A typical soldier and she didn't expect to be on the same level of talking to him. Even with the same starting point, Specter members are always regarded as bastard children because the unit's mother was an intelligence agency. When the secret activities of the team were uncovered, the military bluntly called people like her "Assassin wearing a T-shirt" on the newspaper to emphasize its impudence.

"I was a bit surprised when Hart wanted to talk to you. Usually he doesn't care about the sidelines, but when you are forced to send the eight best people to an area where no American has ever step foots into before, I think you would have some questions to ask. "

" Actually I want to see you but ... "

" The person you wants to meet is Hart, "Emerson retorted." I thank you for your concern, but I'm not an idiot, Kayle. My headquarters in Baghdad located only a few miles from your and when didn't you visit this old man? When the Pattrick Hammer called me on the night before, we also vaguely guessed your purpose. A person like you would never like to chat. "

A guy named McGregor liked to spend hours and hours talking before cutting prisoners' necks. In the early days, he was quiet and easy to control, but like that stupid war, the situation began to go south. Kayle did not know if the war had made him so crazy or that it was his true nature. Perhaps she never got the answer because McGregor died in an ambush with four military contractors three years ago, the militants pulled his corpse parading around the streets before throwing it to the dog. .

"What brings you to Hart? For several months now, he has been snubbing with Admiral Flint, intelligence, weather and food. Especially food. Treating special forces with second-class potato and baccon is really insulting. This escort mission even made his mood worse, so do not fool around with him unless you want to add more fuel to the fire. I promised him that I have something useful. "

"What about the secret, the betrayal and CIA? "

Hopefully the colonel would swallow the meal she cooked whether he liked it or not.

"Oh, of course." Emerson implicitly said, "Why don't I be surprised?"


	11. Hart II, Kayle V

**HART II**

The woman in front of Hart was the one who had experienced the heat of battlefield, had tasted the enemy's blood on the tip of her tounge but strangely, he did not feel any of those in her. In an expensive custom made uniform alongside with a slender body and a pretty face, Kayle Wilson seemed like a model from military posters that Hart had seen when he was young enough to believe to believe that was what he would get when joining the army.

The army had no shortage of women, and Hart had to give a grudging respect to these people because a few of them had proved that this type of profession was not exclusive for male only. Task force 22 had four female officers. Two of them were curently worrking at the medical room, the rest served as information analyst and commucator and if he remembered correctly, the commander of Northeast Asian carrier battle group two years ago was also a woman. However, Hart did not once stand side by side with a female colleague on the battlefield as well as training female for combat.

_Unconfirmed, unpredictable and dangerous,_ General Campell said so to senate and Hart mutually agreed. History has never recorded a military fingure who won a war by putting women on the front line and the question was why they have to choose a new and risky path while the old one still proved useful?

"Major Wilson, is the Lieutenant General still doing well?"

"Yes ... I suppose, Colonel." She nodded even though it seemed a bit reluctant.

"If it's convenient, please send him my best regards." He glanced at Emerson and signaled him to sit down, "I heard he said that you come to me with important information so I will go straight to the point ..."

That was just enough for greeting. Hart did not like going too deeply into other people's private lives as well as being looked into his.

"Why should I believe you?"

A bit rude, but necessary. Although the chance of Kayle Wilson come here to play wasn't high, the experience of thirty-year fighting still reminds him that a successful reconnaissance was always a prerequisite for a victorious battle. Besides, playing cat and mouse with a beautiful woman was truly a blessing on such gloomy days.

"You still haven't heard me say anything, C... "

"Maybe I don't need to." He cut her off "We all know how trustworthy your friends at Langley are, right?"

"They're not my friends." Kayle Wilson hissed through her teeth. "I've never seen them as my friends, Colonel."

Hart was very poor at reading people's feelings, unless it was anger. He thought it was the only emotion that people could hardly fake and if this woman was really acting, she should get an Oscar nomination.

"Really? So explain to me why a woman like you can easily avoid the certain prison sentence. Damn you didn't have to go to the court "He slowly pushed a prepared document to her. "only this is enough for you to sleep in the cell for a long time. "

Major Wilson glanced at the document for a moment and then pushed it back toward him, her mouth formed a ghosyly smile.

"I think that anyone of us could make some mistake sometwhere in our lives."

_It also depends on how you is to define mistake._

"Well, I'll see that you had made a mistake a little more than you should have," Hart looked to Emerson "Did he tell you that I hate the CIA?"

"He did warned me that."

"What about me? "

"With all due respect, Colonel, "she grinned," that is not necessary "

"Good. Then this is all you get "the Colonel raised three fingers in the air "If you dare to trick me or I suddenly see you being thorn in my sight, the door is over there"

She ultilized her three minutes with surprisingly perfect communication skills. Words were carefully chosen to get the listener to the center of the matter as quickly as possible, but still did not overwhelm them. Hart realized that Kayle Wilson was not surprised by his attack. Like most people who had been working for Langley, she was always well prepared for any situation. A rare type of warrior, Hart admitted, and he was not surprised when the CIA let her hold the position of second commander of Spectre for all these years.

But Hart didn't invite her here to just praise the presentation skills or the employing skills of the people he hated. She was her to help him find an answer to the question that had been in his head many days ago.

"It is only one reason for Japan to increase the number of troops in the Special Region" Kayle Wilson said. "They are having trouble on the security side. I think the Colonel also understands how easy it is to pacify a land that has just won. "

" How many? "

" Yesterday was two companies belonging to special armies, heavy weapons I guess could is a paratrooper or marines. JSDF also sent a task force but I'm not sure which unit they are in. "

Hart leaned back in his chair, his hand squeezing the wrinkled forehead:

" This is the third time in a month. In total ... about how much, Emerson? "

"At least five hundred and seventy JSDF soldiers have passed through the gate since I started watching." Emerson took out a notebook and began reading "On September 15, two hundred and fifty soldiers from infantry battalion. No. 8 Kanto region. On September 23, eight tanks with about one hundred people. It has not been determined whether the truck fleet will pass through the Gate on the 22nd and 23rd, carrying people or equipment. "

"No more further investigation needed! We've already known their motives. "Hart raise his hand." I want you to make a call to Flint and tell him to give us some Barretts, increase the number of 50 cal ammo for each Humvee to six boxes, armor piercing rounds and incendiary included. I don't care there are giants, dinosaurs or vampires out there. If they dare to attack the convoy, I want them to be blown to pieces immediately. "

"Yes, Colonel" Emerson stood up, nodded his head before stepping out of the door, leaving Hart alone with Kayle Wilson in the room.

Hart stood up to the window. On the outside, the leaves on the tree opposite his office had mostly fallen, leaving only a few dull brown-yellow reclining clinging to the lowest branches. Far away, dark clouds completely dominated the northern sky and only God could stop the west block from being submerged by the rain again.

When the Colonel attempted to close the window, a long blue-and-white slit suddenly appeared on the dark sky, followed by a few seconds after, a dull explosion like the sound of a cannon breaking into space. Oh no! That was not the sound of cannon.

_It came closer_ . He dreamily remembers the old wooden house. _The roar of the lion._

What a horrible way to comfort a child. It caused him to be afraid of lions for a long time, at least until Hart discovered that humans were the most terrifying predators.

"You've already known it."

_And you have underestimated me, girl. _

"I have a supervising team staying at the hotel three hundred meters away," Hart said, his eyes was still on the darkened sky afar "Close enough to observe who or what came into the gate, but still far enough for the Japanese to not sniff us out. "

He planned to set up a surveillance team on the Gate about a month ago, after Emerson accidentally had some information on the JSDF's unusual movement at the East Asia Headquarters. But planning was one thing , doing it was another story. Hart could not simply send his men to do the task because no matter how convincing he was, Admiral Flint insisted on not approving. The Admiral stressed that a military operation like this could not be done on the basis of suspicion but Hart acknowledged the risk of a diplomatic crisis if their men were arrested for espionage was certainly the main reason making Flint faltered.

_Flint recently look more like an old lion who has lost all his teeth. It seemed that the entire decade of the socializing and attending those silly parties had worn away his courage._

This pushed Hart into a difficult position because he could not rely on the Naval Intelligence who originally opposed his plan from the beginning and even if they agreed, Flint would sooner or later found out. Moreover, He had long suspected their competence for such task.

At the end of the game, Hart had to rely on Emerson's resourceful talent and was not disappointed with the decision. The old friend gave him an irrefutable idea:

"If we can't use the resources of the Army, why don't we use external sources?"

Currently the team consists of two veterans currently living in Japan and a New York police inspector who was on vacation, of course they were all introduced by Emerson and paid by his unit's budget for unofficial operation. It was even weirder when all three people meet the criteria that he proposed as if they were sent by God to help him out. Two veterans, Norman and Ricardo had served in the sniper reconnaissance company, which was very adept at remote tracking, while police inspector Jeff Longman not only spoke fluently Japanese but he also was an analyzer and an expert at tailing and investigating.

_"I have a wider connection than you think."_

Emerson said that when Hart asked him the question and this was not the first time that happened. Whether it was Panama, Iraq, or Africa, Emerson always knows how to find the right person for the job. The pointers never lure them into ambush, the messenger always finishes the task and the mercenaries who are famous for being changing sides like clothes were always brave and loyal. Many people would think Hart was blessed by God himself but he never believed it. If that's the case, Why did God sank the ferry on Redwood Lake that day and turned him into an orphan.

"You know everything but ..." Kayle Wilson hesitated. The astonishment was clear in her eyes. "Why didn't you stop them? Why? "

_So this is why you came here to see me? _

"You think I can stop them?"

"You are Poker!"

Hart laughed, but it was dark and cynical. "Are you really that naive, Wilson?" I could hardly believe the difference between the person on the file and the one right in front of me. "

Hart only could put all the blame on himself. He should have dismissed the Legend of Poker, the "Number One Hero in America", "The Old Blood" from the very beginning or at least prevented Emerson from deliberately spreading it. Soldiers seeking confidence and courage in their commanding officers, Hart knew that but a self-respecting man should not take the titles he himself felt he was not worthy of.

Sighing, Hart closed the window and returned to his desk. In front of him was an officer with a storm of emotions. Angry, scared and surprised. _You did not anticipate this situation, did you? _

"Let me give you one thing about poker," Hart calmly says, his fingers laced together, "Although she may play well to where the dealer will always be the winner."

If not then Las Vegas would be left with nothing but a barren land. And when your dealer is the most powerful man in the world, every card will always have the same number, the same color.

"Why did you agree to meet me?" Her voice was harsh. "I have said everything I knew, I gave you warnings and what did you do?" Throw them in the trash! "

When Kayle Wilson had just finished speaking, the lion let out another roar. This time it was bigger than the previous one and the lightning was close enough to print the shadow of the thin tree all over the room. For a moment, it looked like the black hand of a cruel demon trying to grab the two of them.

The woman put her hands on the edge of the table and slowly stood up. Now he noticed that her hair was honey blonde like the color of lion mane and different from the bright ash blonde hair of Emerson and those blue eyes would be very beautiful if they weren't flooded with anger.

"I am so stupid to come over here!" She said curtly and stood up, "Good day, sir!"

Hart slammed his fist hard on the pine wood table, so strong that it made coffee in the cup splashed on the milky pages.

"Stay where you are, Wilson! Do I need to remind who are you talking to? "He growled." Don't ever speak to me with that tone again. Sit down! "

The major did not say anything and just stared at him.

"You can only leave here when I give you permission, do you understand?"

"Of course I do, sir" She answered with an cold attitude, almost mocking him before sitting down. "How can i help you, my dear Colonel?"

Hart knew that rank and mere whip would not be enough to tame this lioness. Kayle Wilson was not the usual type of hot-blood officer who was always impulsive with her superiors. She was a member of Spectre, no matter what they said about this unit that name still had some meaning. When you involved with the CIA's black ops to survive to tell the tale, you could be counted as some random grunt anymore. If Hart wants to win this battle, he must use his trump card.

"Do you know the so-called Inversed Situation?"

"Isn't that why I'm here?"

The inverse situation was a term derived from escort mission. In the most ideal condition, each VIP would have three guards, but if the ratio was reversed, the inverse Situation was officially established.

"Now the ratio is almost 1 on 3" He sighed "Losing some people before reaching the safe zone should be expected, even the possibility of the convoy went missing or worse wasn't out of our expectations. . As you can see, it is very likely that this is a one-way mission even if I send the best guy so ... "

He took a paper from the stack of document on the table and put it in front of the tablet Major:

"I will sympathize if you want to withdraw."

"You mean ..."

Hart raised his hand to stop her, then said, "Article 45, Section K, the US Army stipulates that if an officer in command think his subordinates don't have mental or health ability to complete the task, he can write a petition to exclude him / her from that task within a week after being appointed. "

Hart picked up the pen and slowly wrote each sentence while observing his opponent's reaction, the thing he did hundreds of times but only on the front, not in a four-square-meter room.

"After a time of receiving the task, for many subjective and objective reasons, Major Kayle Wilson did not perform well on the task she was assigned and compromised the quality of the whole unit." He said out lound "In the order I propose Okinawa base to receive and re-train Major Wilson. "

"This is just a petition." She looked at him suspiciously. "And you are not my commanding officer."

"I will sign my name on this paper and make a call to Headquarters to you a ticket out of here tomorrow. If it didn't work, Emerson would call your father and tell him to fly over to make it happen. Trust me, Wilson. Although i can't stop the train, i still has the right to decide who will sit on it. And when you are safe in Okinawa with the sea food, your long sandy beaches and her barbeque stall, I would look for another corpse to take your place. "

Kayle Wilson's face turn pale as she heard him mention" Corpse " ". _It's time to throw a decisive blow._

"A young officer who are looking for a chance to make a name for himself seems to be a good choice. Such people are always overflowing with enthusiasm but too hasty. I want an older, more experienced person to take on the task. What do you think about Emerson? "

" No! "

That was what she could say, her voice was so trembling and weak to the point it was unbelievable. Why did Hart feel like the Spectre commander had gone away and standing in front of him was just a child now?

"You can't do that."

"I can do it and I'll do it. In fact, Emerson himself proposed to be a military attaché from the beginning but did not understand why they sent you. A mistake that we will fix right now. He wanted to do this and you don't so I have no reason not to let the two of you satisfied. "

Hart quickly put his pen tip on the bottom of the page where his signature was supposed to be. He had a habit of writing Hart into Heart, so perhaps that was how the legend of Poker was born.

"Now you're free" He looked at her " The lives of those men and women no longer have anything to do with you. You can go, Major Wilson. "

Everything after that went on as Hart had expected. Kayle Wilson grabbed the paper in his hand and tore it into piecies at the moment when Emerson returned from the communication room. A triumphant smile floated on the face of the Colonel.

"What's wrong?" Hart's old friend rolled his eyes and looked at the scraps of paper scattered at on the floor. "Did I arrive early?"

"No. Nothing serious, it's just that Major has just gotten rid of some of some papers I don't need" Hart calmly turned to look at her with a thoughtful look. "Why don't you go out and make a cup of coffee when I talk to my man? "

She immediately stood up with fire in her eyes and headed toward the door, not saying a word to him or Emerson.

"Turn left." He said "Don't go through the cafeteria unless you're planning to go swimming and ... "

BAM !

The door was closed with a tremendous force, making it seem like it wanted to break out of the hinge. Hart pressed his ear to listen, waiting for her footsteps to fade in the rain outside, then let out a soft sigh:

"You really know how to choose the time, Emerson."

"I suppose our plan has success." Emerson removed his glasses from his nose and wiped the rainwater from the glass with a small handkerchief "It's a pity that I wasnt here to witness how you did it."

" Your plan, not mine. "He shook his head." No one can claim that the film is his except the director. "

"Don't be too modest, Hart. You decided to play the main role in this drama because you recognized the value of her, and I was here just to serve as a background for you. The stage is your, Colonel "

Hart ignored the old friend's formal way of speaking. "Whatever you say. But I have something to ask you. "

" What? "

"How do you know Wilson will agree to join in fear of your safety? When I mentioned that I would replace her with you, it happened like you had said, there wasn't a single blood on her face. "

"Well that's not too hard ." Emerson slowly put on his glasses. "Kayle will never do that if she doesn't think I'm going to commit suicide for real. Just a little chit chat would do the trick althought It was a bit unfair to the little Katty, she trusted me anyway. But for your plan to succeed, there was no other option. Later, if I have a chance, I will apologize and explain it to her."

.

.

* * *

**KAYLE V**

"So you say Amit Musab lost his life because of a Xbox?"

John "Rudy" Cotton sat on two bullet caskets stacked on top of each other, his left hand holding half eaten fried chicken thighs , laughing to the unbelievable death of Amit Musab . It was a pain to hear the guy he had spent two years tracking died in such a way.

"If the person talking is not you, I don't dare to believe it, Major."

Rudy greedily took a large bite on the chicken thighs and chewed. The grease clinged to his black, shaggy beard, on his fingers and the back of his hand. This was the third chicken leg since they started talking about Amit Musab and if you include the bones on the plate, this must be the fifth or sixth.

"Done!" Rudy said and threw the last bone out the window. "My father said eating a lot will make a man taller and healthier. He was quite disappointed when I only ate half of him, couldn't become a giant and then lost the national weightlifting championship. 'If you will eat more then it would be different' my father said so. '

Rudy was not really a giant but endowed with a wide chest and big arms as strong as cold steel. His voice was like a big cooper bell ringging in a cold day, a feature of men from the northwest of the United States. It was said that the people around the Rocky Mountains got such unique voice from sweet ginger candy that they ate to warm themselves in cold winter morning and when they laugh, the snow on the mountain would melt.

"Did the Major tell Chieftain about this?"

"Chieftain?"

"It's Hart's nickname. After he heard Amit Musab was dead, he promised to reward the hero who pull the trigger. "

Hart rewarded Kayle by taking Emerson hostage to force her to join this one way mission and then ordered her to come to the operation room to wait for nearly half an hour without even explaining a word. He infuriated Kayle, but she resented herself more than Hart.

There was no word could described her stupidity when she thought Poker could put a stop to all thing. He had not been able to win the White House and Pentagon's trust for decades now if only by turning down their plans . Hart Sayer would complete the assigned task with the lowest casualties as possible. It was not exaggeration to say, to the above officials, he was no different from the fairy godmother before the ball. And even if Hart intended to stop this, would it do any good? They would pushed him aside and get another man in his place, just like the way he filled her empty seat with Emerson.

_If a stone breaks, they will replace it with another stone and then the temple will stand firm for a thousand years. _

Kayle remembered that she had read this somewhere while studying with Sobel. The teacher with the big nose was usually overreacted every time his thousands years old Latin verses came true. Then He would then tell Louie that he read Latin so well that it could be music to people ear and turned to look at her like a bug and said,

"I see you have not improved at all. It's disappointing. "

_No! Now it wasn't the time to think about him? _She has many things to solve right now. First of all was finding out why that old Hart told her to wait here.

"How much longer I have to wait?" She asked Rudy.

"Wait for what, Major?"

"When will your Chieftain come? We have been waiting for almost half an hour. "

"How do I know?" Rudy shugged. "He didn't tell me anything about that"

_Are you fucking kidding me?_

"This is the tactical room, where you guy meet and come up with a plan for the mission in special region, right?"

"That's right."

"So he told me to come here only for that only reason, right? If that's not the case, what are you doing here? "

"Ah, so you want to know about those meeting. "The big man lazily yawning," We had that kind of meeting yesterday, all shouting and no decision was made. And about why me coming here? The cafeteria has been flooded so I have no place to eat except this place. Colonel, with all respect I have for that man, he is really a dick when it come to sanitary. A few days ago, he gritted his teeth and said that anyone who mistook the administrative area for the kitchen would have a ticket home. "

_Damn it!_

If she knew that it would turn out like this, she would not drag her ass over here. It was an godamn unlucky because everyone seemed to love throwing shit at Kayle. The persistent rain outside made her mood even worse, but it was still nothing compared to Rudy's naughty gossip about his mother's stupid jam, bacon and grilled salmon. _This man doesn't care about anything but eating_ .

"How long did the team leave the base?"

Based on the dirt on the floor, she guessed at least six people were here this morning. Some foot print was still quite new and dry so at the time when they entered this room, the sky was still clear, which was inherently impossible after two o'clock in the afternoon. From the moment she arrived in Shino Hill, Kayle had not seen any members of Task Force 22 except Rudy and if they were not in this room, there was only one possibility left.

"How did you ... Well shit, I forgot that you was from Spectre" Rudy sighed. "They went down to the forest below the hill to practice fighting in the early morning. Captain Jerry wants us to breathe in the same breath before going to the Special Region. "

_Jerry? Oh yeah, it's him._

It turned out that the person they chose was the Jackal, Jeremy Blackwood. Kayle didn't know much about him but if what she heard was true, Jackal was a very dangerous man to deal with. There was a Taliban leader in Helmand was read to pay $ 1 million for Jerermy's head after losing nearly half of his men by his hand. No one knew the details of this crazy hunt except that the Jackal welcomed those who wanted to kill him with an ambush with machine guns and grenades under the blazing sun of July afternoon. Sixty-five corpses were found on the field, including that Taliban leader. It was rumored that he was shot by Jeremy himself at very close range, so close that it looked more like an execution than a random shot during a battle. Whether it was true or not is not important because since then, the name "Jackal" alone could strike fear into the heart of many men.

"But you didn't go with them."

"I don't have to" He answered "I was standing side by side with each one of them but basically, they were still strangers to each other. We had changed so much after returning to the homeland. Many people either retired or moved to desk work so the Colonel had no choice but to assemble the remnants to create temporary combat teams while recruiting new men. In the past we had six combat teams and a support unit but what about now? Not enough people to form a proper team for the convoy! "

Rudy touched the beard under his chin and sighed. It seemed that witnessing the thing that could be considered as second home, source of pride becoming the shadow of its former self was very difficult for many people. Fortunately, Kayle was not affected by that thought.

"Even the assignment of Jerry was nothing but controversial. I think you are well- awared that where his reputation comes from. Jerry is a Jackal and not a Shepherd Dog. "

Kayle had heard Roland said that he had that name because of his preference for the thing called "Solo Mission" in enemy territory with limited support. But once inside, the jackal will frantically attack any prey he sees. His list of targets was random, ranging from low-level warriors, drug dealers to big fishes like local chieftain or militant leaders. At first he was just like a pain in the ass, but as always, it would be swollen and people began to realize that the sheep would never sleep in peace if there was a Jackal hovering around.

Seal said The Jackal was a mad man, SOCOM listed him as an rebelious, wild type in the special force's world but few people noticed that every time the Taliban focused all his attention on him, they would forget the American infantry battalions would enter Hindu Kush a few weeks later.

To be fair, Jeremy Underwood was not the right person for the job but after all, he was still a skilled warrior with a nose that can smell all the dangers. Perhaps this was why Hart chose him, a man accustomed to fighting overwhelmingly forces and survive in all harsh conditions.

"As long as he knows how to bark and bite, I don't see any problems here." Kayle said, "I wonder if he is as good as the rumor say."

"You will see soon," Rudy glanced at his watch on his hairy arm "They maybe on the way back right now."

It takes about five minutes for Jackal and his unit to reach the base. Kayle and Rudy heard the sound of engine coming out of the gate as she shared with him the Japanese cigarette packs under the makeshift eaves of Block E. In the rain, she saw the hazy image of a olive painted military truck that slowly rolling through the security post, the rain falling on the rubber cover as it passed them and stopped in front of the Hart's headquarters about twenty meters away.

The seven colored pocho raincoats jumped out from the trunk one after another, assault rifles peeked beneath them.

"Who is Jerry?" Kayle asked. _They look exactly the same at this distance. _

Rudy narrowed his eyes and looked. "I think it's the third person on the left, the guy with the Boonie. Jerry is taller than all of us but lower than Edd "

And it seems Rudy was correct. Everyone listened attentively to every word from the person wearing Boonie before dismissing under his command. Then he turned to the two of them and slowly walked closer with the inherent caution of a predator.

"Hello Cap" Rudy gave a wide smile and nudged Kayle on the shoulder. "Speak of the devil right?."

Jeremy Blackwood was not a devil, but he wasn't Gariel either. He was an mid- thirty-year-old man with pale skin under a wet boonie, deep eye sockets, split chin and razor-sharp look.

"Is this the commander of Spectre?" He said with a cold voice like the air around here and so impolite that he didn't even bother to tell them who he was talking to.

"Former commander" Kayle replied "Specter is no longer exist."

"Whatever " He turned to the Sergeant and ordered "You will be in charge of the projector"Then he looked at Kayle "And you follow me."

"Hey..Wait a ..."

Jeremy Underwood had no intention of listening to her finish the sentence. With a slightly crude cough, he arrogantly strode inside. The pocho covered with rainwater and mud of his accidentally struck her, leaving a long stain of dirt on the uniform that cost more than a thousand dollars.

"He doesn't look friendly." She shook her head bitterly. "It seems like everyone in the base hates me."

"Captain doesn't like strangers, but you should not think of it much. When he gets used to your smell, he'll be different. "

_I won't let him smell all over me_

When she entered, the Jackal sat right at the head of the table, next to M4. Raincoat and duck-ear hat were thrown into a corner. He gave Kayle a strange look and it makes her think immediately of the CIA agent who cause her so much pain, Pattrick Hammer.

"The colonel told me to update the situation for you." He jerked, "I don't understand what the old man is thinking. It's a waste of time. "

_That's it. I have enough of this bullshit_. She could endure Hart's insistence, finding herself as cheap as a pawn on a chessboard but this was the final line.

"Do you have a problem with me? What is this time for? "Kayle shouted," Spectre or you can't stand when a woman has higher rank than you? " I know you guys are not sympathetic to the people of CIA but believe me, I don't love them more than you do. "

" I mean waste your time, not mine. . "He replied calmly," Ready, Rudy? "

" Wait a sec, Captain "The sergeant plugged the projector's cord connecting with the laptop." Can I turn off the light? "

Jeremy nodded in agreement and the light was off. A strange image gradually appeared on the screen, Kayle saw blue winding lines on a dark brown background with black and small dots scattered on it, accompanied by strange Latin letters in the left corner.

_Far ... Falmal? _A meaningless word, she guessed it was a name.

It took Kayle a moment to realize that what she was looking at was a map but it was indeed, an unusual map. There are no meridians, latitudes or levels on it while the drawing was no doubt a work of elementary school student. Cornering culminated when areas that seemed to be forested land were marked with dozens of tiny, small trees, and three towers clustered together could be the sign of a town or city, Kayle said it was because she noticed that many of them were connected by the crossroads.

"What joke is this?" She walked closer to the screen. "It looks worse than the treasure map I drew when I was ten years old."

"Here is the file number 114, map of Falmal continent " Jeremy Blackwood said, "And is our official map when we go to the Special Zone."

Kayle burst out laughing. "You really have a sense of humor, people told me you don't know how to joke. "

But Kayle's smile did not last for long. The serious face of the Jackal and Rudy shows that this was no joke. They are telling the truth, Kayle senses it. A terrible and unbelievable truth but the truth no matter what.

Hart didn't exaggerate when calling this a one-way mission. It was predictable that the security team would lack firepower, manpower or plans to deal with arising situations, but Kayle never expected them to do all their job with a blindfold.

"They'd better shoot us in the head," cried Kayle. "Does anyone explain to them how crazy this is?"

"The Colonel said exactly the same thing. " Jeremy leaned one hand on the table and rolling his eyes around. "And they don't seem to have much effect."

This guy was no better than Patt at mocking her, but Kayle didn't have time for such things anymore. She was now part of the team and if she wants to return to home in one piece, she must learn to live with people like him.

"What do you need?"

"A plan," he said. "A very good plan that help us avoid getting killed out there. Keep going, Rudy! "

The Sergeant nodded and after only a few clicks, another image appeared. Also the old map but the slace has been narrowed around the central area of the so-called "Falmal Continent", along with a curved line linking two points named "Alnus" and "Sadera" together.

"The starting point will be Alnus hill and our final destination is Sadera, the capital of the Empire. But to get there, we have to travel a long way through plains, towns, midlands, and mountain areas if this map is somewhat accurate. "

_Not good_ , Kayle thought deeply. If they had no specific detail on terrain, they were very easy to put themselves in a dangerous situation. Just a river branch, a forest or an unexpected valley would make thing go south faster than anyone expect and the whole team would be like fish in the barrel.

"Normally I will tell you to put everyone on the Chinook and fly straight to Sadera but I guess it doesn't seem like an option anymore. Is there anything else? "

"Not much. "Jeremy shook his head." Except that most roads in the Special Region are dirt roads and bridges across the river are not designed for any vehicles weight over three tons. So the East Asian H.Q suggest us to borrow the Marines an AAV to carry ammunition and necessities. "

A big fat buffalo in the back of the convoy was the last thing they needed. The prospect of chewing on the protein bar for a weeks to come was not very attractive to anyone, even to people like Jackals, but it seems this was the difficult option they have to choose. The more time they spend on the road mean more ammunition would be used and more of them would die. Speed was the key.

"A bad plan!" The jackal gritted his teeth. "Hart doesn't like it, I don't like it, but the geniuses at the Headquarters and the Department of State, as usual, think this is a good idea. Those idiots probably can't distinguish an RV from an AAV. "

" What do you plan to do, Captain? "Kayle asked.

Jeremy looked thoughtfully at the map, rubbed the bridge of his nose and said,

"Four Land Rover, two Humvees, basic equipment, moving during the day and resting for six hours after the sunset. It may take about a week or a little more to reach Sadera. Cant say for sure cause even the Japanese didn't travel to the Captial on road and the Romalia moutain look like a tough son of bitch if what they told us was the truth .Anyway I did manage to cross Hindu Kush and back to Afganishtan with the same formation so we can make it "

But that was only true for Jeremy, the notorious soldier with the nickname Jackal and member of Task force 22 who could drink goat's blood and eat their boots to survive . Kayle wasn't sure if Celie or Norton or Dominic would pass more than half the journey in that condition. For these people, when Plan A was screwed, it also mean there would be no plan B or C.

"And what will you do if one of the Humvee suddenly was broken, one of the crew is injured or ... "Kayle felt that it was not right to mention death here." Or we got lost, with a map like this, it would be sooner or later. They are not soldier, captain. They wont survive a week out there. We need to scout the terrain and make a detailed plan for each day. "

"And where are you going to get the necessities for ativities of your, Lady? We don't have a supply aircraft, no air support, AAV is too slow, and trucks can't cross the bridge. "

Though a little annoyed when she was called "Lady", Kayle had to admit that he said it was somewhat true. Things like food, ammunition and fuel were holes in her plan. With food, it could be improvised but thing like bullets and gasoline ...

"JSDF will help us." Kayle replied,"They have facilities and outposts in the Special Region."

"JSDF?" He smirked "Oh, I see. Colonel haven't told you that, right?"

" Tell me what? "

" There will be no help from Japanese or I can put it this way, we had officially refuse any help from them. "

Kayle was stunned. This madness follows another madness with no reason at all. Is this the foolishness of man or God's will? She had never been a believer like her mother wanted, so she did not believe in the so-called fate and it was hard to imagine the White House making such a disastrous decision. Strange it might sound, she had more reason to believe they wanted to push their people to death.

"When?" Kayle asked him, "Why didn't I hear anyone say anything about that?"

Maybe that foxy Patt hid her or he himself didn't know about it but Kayle was somewhat inclined to believe the later. Thinking back and forth, it was quite unusual for him to allow her to see Hart. Working time under the CIA for a considerable time taught her that people like Patt never acted on improvisation.

"This morning, news from the H.Q. Who is the decision maker and why I'm not sure why, so don't ask anything else. "

_Obviously something is going on_ . The press conference in the morning was a humorous segment of a Greek tragedy. In Tokyo they can embrace, shake hands and laugh in front of a camera but in a certain room in Washington, the hunting season has really begun.

"We will do it my way." Jeremy decided. "I presented it to the Colonel yesterday and he agreed. This is the most feasible option unless you hide some card under your sleeve, Wilson. "

_Under the sleeve, Card trick?_

An idea flashed in her mind, an idea that wasn't bad at all in this situation. Roland and she did the same in Mosul, though not very successful, but it was worth a try. Anyway, it was more positive option compared to Jeremy's " improvisation" strategy.

"If I remember correctly, there is a small town in Alnus Hill set up by the Special Region residents?" Kayle pretended to ask him, "And it has become a bridge between our world and their? "

Jeremy Underwood looked at her with a puzzled look.

"Refugee camp" He corrected her "Under the control of the JSDF but only nominally because the Japanese gave them administrative autonomy from the beginning. But why did she care about it? Don't tell me you're going to hire those random Indian to carry our supplies on horse carriages. "

_You're underestimating me, dear Dog. _

"You're not wrong, I do wants those random primitive Indian transporting necessities for us, but you know what Jerry, when they do it is all what I care for"

When she finished , Jeremy Underwood looked like a Greyhound who sniffed the smell of chicken in the bush. He understood her mean. Kayle felt relief, at least the Jackal was not a dull like most of grunt she met.

"Is this ... possible?" He looked up at the map again. "If there is a place where we can resupply every two hundred miles, I will have three, no, four of them before reaching the outskirts of Sadera but how can you guarantee that the food and fuel are not stolen before we can use it? "

" JSDF will make sure it doesn't happen so… "

" Didn't I just say that Japanese are not allowed to help?" He impatiently interrupted her. "It is against the White House's orders, we are not allowed to ask them ..."

"And that's exactly what I'm going to do, Jerry." Kayle smiled as she sat down. "As a matter of fact, I didn't use any of the JSDF's resources. We simply hire the local to transfer our stuff but It is not our job to check who they hire to do the job as well as what kind of guard they use to protect the good "

So the card was swapped, the scam was completed, but as any magician who ever lived, she could perform alone. She needed more than one help. It took ten seconds for Jeremy to digest all of that, but for Rudy it must be a little longer.

"What are you two talking about?" The Sergeant asked blankly, "Why would JSDF allowed the local to hire their men?"

Kayle laughed at Rudy's innocence and it made his face turn red with embarrassment, many people tried very hard but their minds were always on the trigger.

"What do you think, Captain?"

She asked him, Jeremy Blackwood, The man who was called the Jackal, the terror of the Hindu Kush.

"Colonel wasn't wrong about you, Kayle Wilson" He answered with strange interest in his eyes "Rudy!" Run up to Hart's room and invite him down here. He needs to see this."


	12. Hoàng I

Hoang has never been close to the sea, if the memories served him well. A long time ago, when he was only a few inches taller than his father's knee, he might have a looked at it, a lake that was larger than any other lake and was as bule as the sky in the clearest days. He remembers the sensation of a slime on the skin, the salty taste in the wind, the pleasant sound of the waves kissing the sandy beach and the face of his father. He was the happiest, most gentle father he ever knew

But maybe all these things were just illusions. Childish imagination and regret of adults were two perfect catalysts for fake memories. The part child's part who always think about the successes they would have while the adults only cry for the long lost dreams. This conflict creates a deep pain in the man's mind. A formless pain but like any other physical pain, it needed a dose of morphine, an illusion to cling to.

However, Hoàng was still conscious enough to know what was right in front of him was not an illusion at all. The black wave nearly swallowed their tiny rubber boat and almost knocked Captain Lev and his partner, Sergeant Yuri Kochenkov into the sea. They were in the middle of the ocean, nearly two kilometers from the Japanese coast, on a paddle-boarded four-foot boat just as big as a Soviet ZAZ (A type of car producted in Soviet area, very small in size). Fishing boat named Northern Star which had been the transportation of four of them since Vladivostok could not come any closer to shore because of the shallow beaches around here like a deadly labyrinth so Lev decided to land by rubber boat.

The ship captain, who was a former Russian naval soldier, tried to warn Lev about the erratic weather of this region but the Captain could not wait anymore. They were one day behind schedule so everything had to happen tonight.

The first twenty minutes of the journey took place very smoothly. The sky was clear and stars hanging above their heads, the sea surface was as gentle as the young maiden's love with Miska's soft voice mixed in the sound of the rowing oars on the dark blue waves. A strange folk song of Russia and although Hoang did not have enough vocabulary to fully understand its meaning, he was also attracted and started to sing with her.

_Those were the days my friend, we thought it never end. We sing and dance_

Then all thing turned south unbelievably fast

He was the first to sniff the unusual in the air and tell Miska. She said that to Yuri again and when Lev started shouting "Go! Row faster! Hurry up! Faster! "Then Hoàng knew that they were about to meet their doom. Waves after waves tried to drown them with their scary black mouths and if it wasn't for extraordinary effort plus a bit of luck, the little boat of their would be under the bed of the ocean right now. But just like always, luck runs out and only effort was never enough.

A wave, though not as tall as the previous waves, but more virulent, suddenly displayed its demonic appearance when it was only ten meters away from them. Hoàng felt that his whole body had been lifted up into the air and then was the most audible sound he ever heard.

And that was all he could remember before waking up in a state of being dragged. The first thing Hoang felt was the dry, spicy salty taste of seawater coming out of his mouth and nose, causing him to cough chokily.

"He's awake" A voice came from the top of Hoàng's head, startling him. It took him a while to realize that it was Yuri and he was the one dragging him on the sand.

"Bring him in here." A female voice. Miska, he thought. It was clearly her but he didn't see her anywhere. It was dark around here, too dark that he could see Yuri's face "Come here, put him down under the tree"

And under that tree, Hoàng coughed and vomited out the seawater and sputum left over in his lungs, a horror experience that could be place after the detention center he used to live in when he was arrested.

"What happened?" He asked, the coughing had stopped. "I ... don't remember anything."

"You fainted." Yuri replied in a voice as heavy as lead. "And we pulled you to shore. "

"You're lucky. "Miska giggled as she sat down next to him," No, I have to say all four of us are very lucky ? "

_All four of us? _ Oh right, they still have one person missing.

"Where's Lev?" Hoàng asked

"Go scouting around" Yuri answered in the dark "He told us to wait here."

_But what if he didn't return, what would we do? _ Hoang only wanted to slap himself for that if he wasn't too tired to lifted up his arm after the exciting activity in the sea earlier.

_"_I shouldn't have such silly pessimistic thoughts, "he muttered." I'm no longer a boy. "

At least that's what he told himself after talking to Lev in Da Nang and he had repeated those words so much that they became a prayer. And like every pious believer, Hoàng truly hopes that one day his prayers would come true.

"What should we do with it, Miska?" In the twilight scene, he thought Yuri was looking out of the sea. "It's still out there."

"Nothing!" Miska huffed " Why do you keep asking me about that boat, dude? "

"Tomorrow the storm will stop, the tide will push it to the shore and people will ask questions. "

The sergeant straightened his explanation to Miska as if trying to teach a child how to tie her shoe. And according to Hoang's experience, it only made the female chestnut warrior more annoying.

"Nobody will notice a rubber boat drifting. There must be at least a dozen of them out there after the storm like this. "

" No, they will, "Hoàng interjected. He knew why Yuri was worried. "It's a Zodiac, only design for Spetsnaz operation, you can't buy it from the black market."

One of the four items that Lev brought to Vietnam offered, and because he was who checked the contents of the translated pages from Russian, Hoang would not be surprised if the unusual style of the Zodiac evokes the curiosity of those around.

"I think it should be reported to Lev first." Miska somewhat persuaded, she saw the seriousness of the problem they were having. "Besides, what do you think we should do, Yuri?" She jokingly asked, "Swim out there and drag it to the shore?"

Hoàng didn't see any future in that and it was lucky for him because Yuri also has the same thoughts.

"No, I don't think so." He sat down on the wet sand. "You're right, it's useless."

So the three of them huddled and waited for Lev to return in the October cold, with wind blowing from the sea slapping rainwater into his face. Although he wore a layer of insulating clothing under the dark blue uniform, Hoang still felt his body shaking every time the wind blew. He didn't fond of the cold and this wet-to-toe condition only made things worse.

"Can we ... find some ... somewhere else?" Hoàng trembled, pointing to the forest that grew close to the beach. "I can't take it anymore!"

"No." Yuri shook his head "Lev won't be able to us in there. "

"Are you cold, Hòang? "Miska nudged him on the shoulder, teasing "This is nothing compared to what we get on december"

"I am not a Russian like you" Hoang tried to put on his best smile "The children at Bely called me Matryoshka because every time the snow fell, I had to wear so many layers of clothes and they said it made me looked like a Matryoshka doll displayed in the shop. You can not imagine the inconvenience when I back from and fell into the snow in front of my apartment building. I could not stand up if there was nobody around to help. "

" So you choose the wrong place to live? "She giggled." There are two things in Russia that you never miss: Snow and Vodka. "

_Like I have a choice._ Russia did not mean much to Hoàng before the day his father mortgaged their house to the bank, in his mind at that time, Russia was nothing more than a piece of land with a name like every piece of land in this freaking earth. Yet just four years later, he sat next to two OKP-1 soldiers, on another piece of land called Japan, to carry out a top secret mission directed by the Kremlin. A long and unbelievable step forward for a Vietnamese illegal worker, if he had a chance to tell this story to someone.

"Hoàng, I need to ask you something, if you don't mind" Miska lowered her voice, very low as if she did not want Yuri heard the conversations they "What did Lev say t you when we were in Vietnam ?"

"He told me that he was authorized to ask me to join an extremely important task of OKP-1 I in Japan and I agreed "

"Anything else? Levk just said only that much and you agreed? "Miska was surprised." There must be something else that makes you do this. For example, do they promise you money? "

" Lev didn't mention it. "

That's the truth. Lev didn't promise anything to Hoang and he found it no longer important cause they couldn't give him what he really wanted.

"You're an idiot," Miska punched him on the shoulder, blaming him for his stupidity "If I were you, then ten million rubles would only be start."

Some said that the happiness of a man lied in money and between the legs of a woman, or as in the more pragmatic version of the Hòang, that was the amount he must pay to own such love legs . Perhaps, at some point in his miserable life, Hoàng really believed in them but not here, not now. After so many things happened to him, he thought he finally understood what happiness really was.

"Silence!" Yuri hissed, "Someone is coming."

As a beast sniffing in danger, Miska grabbed the collar of Hoàng and violently pulled him backwards, causing him to fall down , face buried in the sand.

"Hurry up! Hide behind me," she ordered. Because of all the sudden, surprise and panic, Hoang did not know how to react except to obey her order.

He heard the sound of gun reloading in the darkness but it was unclear if it was Miska's gun or Yuri's, or worse it could be of ... the guy coming this way. He could see nothing or hear any other sounds besides the murmur of the sea and the thuds coming from his chest. Fear possesses people's bodies faster than the cold.

"Thirty meters, two o'clock, armed" The blond man whispered, "If that's not Lev, take him down."

"Confirm." Miska nestled against the tree trunk, slowly raised up her pistol. "I'll punch a hole between his eyes."

But Miska never had the chance to do it. The stranger came out from the tree with his hands held high, the branches of the tree cracking under his feet. Hoang realized who it was immediately. There was one man only with that big and tall black shadow.

"Don't shoot, Miska" Lev said as he walked closer "It's me."

"Damn it, Lev" She lowered her gun "You just scared the shit out of me"

In the darkness, Lev looked more like a bear than a man "How lucky I am" He said jokingly "You never miss at this distance."

He looked at Yuri who was kneeing beside a tree.

"Good job Sergeant Kochenkov " The captian gave tap on his shoulder, encouraging Yuri with a smile but Hoàng still could feel the weariness in his voice. "Sit down, everyone sit down. We have something to discuss. "

Lev sat cross-legged on the sand, the AK was placed across his thighs, his hands were in the bag at attached to his waist before taking out an object he thought was a map. The three of them began to do the same thing, Miska sat on the left, Yuri on the right and Hoàng in the opposite direction, forming a small circle on the beach. Yuri bend a light stick and threw it to Lev.

"Thank you, Sergeant."

Under the bizarre red light, Lev, Miska and Yuri looked like a more tattered version of their own in the afternoon and Hoàng thought, if there was an miror here, he was sure not much better.

"It's a bit silly, but I have both good news and bad news." Lev spread out the map "Which news do you want to hear first?"

As usual, Miska was always the one who spoke for them:

"Of course bad news first. I always want to have a beautiful ending, don't you remember that? "

Yuri grimaced at her, displeased at the attitude which he had called" unprofessional " many time before but Lev thought otherwise.

"Alright, alright, I remember." He laughed. "The bad news is that we landed in the wrong place."

He felt that "Drifting" sounded more accurate. Although he was uncertain what happened after being knocked unconscious by the wave, Hòang suspects that the fact they were this coast was intentional.

"How far?" Yuri asked, "Ten or a fifty?"

"Not sure, but the good news is that we're still in Chiba as a plan." Lev's index finger fumbled along the zigzag black lines on the map. "This road runs along the coast of Chiba and it is only about a mile north of us. "

"The coastline must be more than a hundred miles long." Yuri reminded him "How can we identify our location for the Host?"

"By signal generator and radio." Lev suggested, "We will find one spot near the main road, turn on the device and wait until the Host catch the signal. Once he goes into our radio coverage area, I will know where we are now. "

"But what if ... "

"We have to risk it. "Lev folded the map and stood up." This is the best chance we got "

The plan sounded pretty good to Hoang but he couldn't say the same thing to Yuri. The grumpy blonde man muttered something to Miska and got his answer in crazy fast Russian that seemed to make Hoàng's ears to explode. Hoang was always aware of the invisible wall between him and the OKP-1 members although Lev always said he was now part of the team. This is not the first time they use slangs and metaphors that only true Russian could understand when he was present, Miska and Lev often do it in Vietnam when they don't want the conversation to be overheard

_No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't become a part of them_ , he thought bitterly. However, that was not the reason he came here.

"Everyone check your equipment." The Captain ordered "Two minutes."

The results showed was Lev was the only one "landing" on the coast with full equipment, Miska left the Kalashnikov on the bottom of the sea and Yuri had nothing but a long machete behind her back. Lev handed the sergeant his shotgun and said:

"Standard formation. You behind me, and Miska goes with Hoang, understood? "

" Yes, Captain, but I have something to report. "

" For the love of god! Screw that boat, Yuri "cried Miska" What's the point of bringing it up? "

"Wait..What boat ? "Lev dumbfounded for a few seconds, then he stared at the far horizon" Oh ... right, that boat. She's right, Yuri, it's too late now. "

The blonde man silently nodded in agreement and they started to depart. The forest grows close to the coast was not dense but full of gravel, stone pebbles and big, smooth stones like tortoise shells. Hoàng tried to hold back his laughter when Lev stumbled on one of those tortoise shell and lied on the ground, but after a few minutes, he himself became a victim.

"Mind your footsteps, Hoàng." Miska grumbled as she helped him up. "If you break your ankle, don't expect me to carry you."

_You will carry me to Antarctica if I ask._ Miska was always like that, never doing the things she said out loud that she would do. A lovely trait for 24 year old girl and totally weird for a member of Spetsnaz. In Hoàng's imagination, those who chose killing as their profession must have a frighteningly rough appearance like Yuri or be as intimidating as Lev but he never once thought they would look like Miska Galkin, a twenty-five year old brown haired girl who didn't ever take anything serious and humming the song "Windy" on the march. Once he asked Lev how on earth she got into Spetsnaz but the captain just shook his head and said :

_"You tell me"_

"Yuri doesn't seem to like Captain's plan very much." He knew it would be more easily to get information from Miska if she didn't realize it was a question.

"That guy always deduces everything in the most negative way possible." Miska snorted. "if that, if this. Holy cow, I don't know what Lev thought to bring him along, Sergey is much better. "

" He looked very worried. "

" The transmitter that Lev mentioned is just a warning whistle, anyone hearing it if they are not deaf, do you understand what I mean? "

" You mean the Japanese can know our position too? "Hoàng's eyes widened in horror." Why didn't you say anything? It is too risky. "

"Only when we are down on luck "Miska laughs haughtily." Apart from the Host and Lev, no one knows the frequency of the transmitter, so it is very difficult for Japanese to accidentally detect it "

It was difficult but still possible and according to him, they were having bad luck since leaving Vladivostok. The three OKP-1 members would of course fight to the end if situation demand them to do so but with only a rifle and two handguns, they have no chance at all against the JSDF. A gunfight in the current situation promises a certain death for Miska, Lev and Yuri.

_But what about me?_

He could not fight, he was not a soldier and did not have an inch of steel in his hand, so might be the Japanese would want to take him prisoner. Prison wasnt as bad as people think when there was hot food and a decent place to sleep. After the horrific detention camp in Siberia, every Japanese prison they planned to put him in was like a vacation trip. However, Hoàng knew that his prospect of imprisonment could hardly come true.

_I was ordered to make sure that no one know about our mission at all costs _

Lev told Hoang that in the hotel room in Da nang. Although it was somewhat vague, Hoang was still able guessed its true meaning. He and these people could not be captured alive, could not be interrogated by the Japanese and there was only one way to make sure those things wouldn't happen.

"Are you not afraid of Miska?" Hoàng asked her

"Am I afraid?" She hopped to the side to avoid the roots blocking the road. " Don't be surprise if I tell you that I'm afraid all the time. When I was young, I was afraid of ghosts, of raspberries and that bitch Tonya. She was two years older than me and loved pulling my hair so hard until I broke down in tear during my day at elementary school. Now I still fear ghosts and raspberries but not Tonya. At the end of middle school, I had taught her a lesson that she would forever remember. "

Hoang couldn't help laughing at that" You know what I'm saying. "

"Of course I do" Miska said "I know what he's doing and i trust him. After all, it doesn't help if you sit there and worry about something inevitable, Hoàng. A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once, do you ever hear of it? "

Hoang did not think he died that much, less than one hundred was more reasonable.

"Who said that?"

"Well ...I read it somewhere in the libary" She scratched her head in puzzlement. "Shit, I'm not sure either."

As they pressed on, it was getting darker and darker. The moon gradually obscured by clouds and completely disappeared after about ten minutes as they passed a small stream flowing straight to the coast. Lev ordered them to stop resting by the stream while he muttered and cursed something with the map, the compass and the light stick in his hand.

"Are we lost?" Hoang asked his female companion quitely and hoped "No" would be her answer.

"By the look of it, maybe." The brown hair girl replied to him with zero worry in her tone before picking up a stone by the stream and throwing it at a random pine tree and missed. This action instantly got her a terrified glance from Yuri. "Geez, alright alright. What a jerk!"

"You should not piss him off, Miska."

"Nah, pissing people off is kinda my job. Did I ever tell you what happened in Donbass?"

There was a night when Miska had too much Volka, she told him about how she burned down the fuel depot of Ukrainian 6th division. It was an incredible story but also hard to believe one cause Hoàng couldn't believe that she entered a well-guarded area by telling the enemy the truth.

She told the guard that she was Miska Galkin from , member of special operation unit OKP-1 and she wanted to drink with them on her day off. With just that, They laughed and left her in, one Lieutenant brought out a keg of decent Volka then they drank until night. The men smoke weird kind of joint they called "Burning Timber" and asked her if she want to tried.

_" Shit, it tasted so bad that I had to throw it out of the window and then after a big "Boom" fire was everywhere." She said "The Ukrainians was pissed, they put a price for my head. 25.000 dollar they said and I also got suspended three weeks due to my violation on chain of command."_

"Yeah, you did but this is different." Hoàng argued "We wont piss anyone off this time."

"No, the Japs would be furious when I blow off their precious Gate to pieces."

That immediately staggered Hoàng " Bl…Blow it off? We came here to do that?"

He was well-awared that the Gate would have something to do with their mission but blowing it off wasnt in his expectation. It also led to many questions that he thought he wouldn't like the answers.

"Then what they need me for? I'm no expert on explosive."

"You may carry the bomb." Miska said as she threw another rock at the pine tree, this time she didn't miss " Yeah, bulleyes."

"You are… kidding me right?" He asked with his nerves stretching like bow strings. "I came all way here to be a walking bomb?"

"Of course, I was playing with you" She giggled at his innocence " How the hell I know FBS are planning to do? Damn, even Lev don't have a clue and he is my commander."

When they got out of the forest, it started to rain. Lev led three people to a high mound where they could observe the the road he mentioned below. Despite being called a highway, Akai was actually just a small road between the two forests, just wide enough for two lanes and it was so dark. Hoang looked around and saw only one single street lamp standing in the middle of the thick black night, warming the raindrops falling around with his pale light.

_If only I was a poet or musician, it would be nice._

Lev certainly did not choose this location because he had something to do with poem. During the earlier equipment inspection, in addition to the lack of weapons, they only had one night vision goggles.

"Here is our plan" Lev pointed at Yuri and Miska "You two will find a safe place fifty meters east of the lamp and keep an eye on anyone or anything moving in this direction."

"And what if that "thing" was JSDF?" Miska asked him with a usual deep voice " What should we do then."

Hoang was a bit surprised because the questioner was Miska, not her cranky blonde friend, and that made he felt the cold ran across his spine. She only behaves like that when thing got serious.

"We will temporarily withdraw and think about how to contact the Host later but in case we cannot withdraw ..."

Lev switched the safety off on his Kalashnikov, his mouth formed a bitter smile

"Then we will have other choice. You all know what have to be done. I will give fire support from here. "

_So that's what Lev will use to make sure __no one know about __their__ missio _, a thought gliding over Hoang's head. He stared intently at the Kalashnikov in Lev's hands and suddenly realized he had seen it before. It was one morning in the outskirt of Hanoi when Lev wanted to prove to his potential customers that the version of Kalashnikov he brought along was so simple that a person who had never touched a gun like Hoàng could easily disassemble and assemble.

_Are you kidding me?_

Hoang silently prayed that it wasn't real and it was all just his imagination. It was miserable and ironic if he was gunned down by the gun that he help to assemble.

_What is the difference between this and tie the noose and let people wrap it around my neck?_

"Internal communication on two" Lev said. "I will use channel one with Host."

Miska and Yuri nodded slightly and went down the mound. Hoang, for obvious reasons, attempted to follow them but Lev's big hand hand placed on his shoulder first. He said:

"You stay here with me."

Normally Lev's voice was always imposing and terrifying but it never sounded so scary to Hoang like this. Could he read his mind? Impossible! Lev was not a psychic and Hoang had eaten bullet for a long time if the captain ever found out he intended to surrender.

"Sit down." Lev pointed at the bush a few feet away from him and Hoang had no choice but to obey "Yes."

His position is well shielded. The thick bush in the front, on the right is a big tree stump with low branches, helping him to have a wide view and difficult to be detected. Lev was a veteran who had seen a lot of action (Miska told him so) so he did not suddenly choose this mound as an observation spot.

"You made too many unnecessary movements, Hoang." Lev said, "It's not good for scouting."

" Unnecessary movements?"

"Movements that even you yourself didn't notice," he explained. "For example, I can see that you have a habit of scratching your head and looking back and foward it every time you get nervous or stressed. Normally those things aren't worth talking about, but when you have to hide in the bush to track down your target, it's a matter of life and death. "

"I never thought they could be that harmful" he admitted. "How many people have made such mistakes?"

"Countless and few of them are still alive to learn from experience. Battlefield is a strict teacher. "Lev leaned against the trunk, the rifle crossed his thigh." The price of the mistake is very costly. "

And they would pay a costly price if Lev made a mistake. Hoàng didnt like Yuri, the man who was always cold and distant to him but Hoàng also has to admit that he had a point when saying this was a somewhat risky decision.

"I know Yuri will grumble about this." Lev reached into his back pocket and pulled out a object looked very much like a woman's lipstick. "But I don't have any better options."

"Is that the transmitter?" Hoang studied the strange object in Lev's hand. "I thought it was a radio or something."

"Things from the FSB usually don't have the appearance that it should have." Lev twirled the lipstick in the opposite direction of the clock. "Just like this damn mission."

The Captain's frustration with the FSB was not something new. On the road from Da Nang to Japan, there was no chance when FSB was mentioned and he did not see Lev growling or hissing through his teeth. This man hated their superior for some reason and even Miska didn't want to tell him.

"But at least you still knows your mission, sir" The sad Hoang played the role of "They didn't even let me do anything here."

"The typical style of the FSB" Lev slammed his hands into the air "Even if they tell you, it is still not true." The answers often bring more questions, Dimitri once told me that. You must have dozens of questions right now, right? "

"Not much."

Hoang just stopped asking questions last night, when the answers began to become gloomy and always ended with his own death.

"Then you must be a very brave or very dumb, Huang" Lev laughed dryly "Doesn't it seem that my threats don't work for you?"

_You don't need to confess it_ .

Despite being frightened, Hoang did not believe in the first place that someone like Lev came down with his comrades even though he always looked like he was about to do it. Or just like Miska, this man never did what he vigorously claimed he wanted to do.

"So the FSB does not order you to kill me, Sir"

"Not really. They just stopped at the suggestion and lucky for you that I'm not Soviet Commissiar. But Yuri is another story. Now do you understand why I didn't let you go with him? "

Hoang felt like the sharp machete of the blonde man was plugging in between his clavicle and his neck vertebrae. If someone was willing to kill him here, it must be Yuri Kochenkov, the machine in the form of a human, a standard and cruel soldier, always doing what he is taught. Lev once said that both the enemy and teammates were afraid of Yuri, but only until tonight, did Hoang really understand its meaning.

"Yuri is not really a bad person but you know what he is like. Moreover ... "Lev hesitated." Besides, I have something to tell you, okay? "

Hoang remained silent for a moment and nodded in agreement. He did not know what Lev intended to say to him, but considering his attitude, this must be important.

"If the situation went sount, I wanted you to surrender to the Japanese, do you understand? Don't resist and don't try to run away. Sooner or later they will catch you no matter what and where are you going to run to? This whole damn country is a huge island in the middle of the ocean and the Host will certainly never risk finding you. That's not to mention the cliffs around here, just with one slip, you'll go to sleep with the fish. "

To die like that was not good option, but were surrendering and fleeing something that he should do now when they were the cause that he agrees to go with them to japan, on a highly risky mission? He would, of course live, if he followed Lev's advices, but like the words of wise man Miska had mentioned before, he would be a coward who died one more time.

"We are soldiers. We have obligations and vows. "Lev continued, his voice more urgent." You have no obligation to Russia nor swear anything under its flag so there is no reason for you have to die here. Shit you don't even have any reason to be here either. Accepting the FSB's offer was a mistake and ... "

"You're wrong, Lev." Hoang responded with all the courage he had. "I have all the reasons than any men alive to be here."

No _Captain_ or _Sir_ here anymore, simply two men together with an story as old as the sea. The meaning of life, something that Hoang had to pay an expensive price to understand.

"Listen, boy" Lev chucked "You shouldn't ..."

"No, I know what you mean ." Hoàng gently interrupted. "Have you ever wondered why I agreed to go with you, Lev?"

The Captain was silent.

"I don't think you do." Hoang smiled wryly. "Maybe you don't know this but I never wanted to go to the city, never wanted to go to college or get a high-paying job. For a country boy like me, such things were inherently far away from the beginning, but somehow my father thought otherwise. Because of his son's happiness, because of his pride, he put money into that crused investment so that I could get into the best school. The worst thing of it was I did not dare to protest, I was so afraid. What happens next, you had already know. Siberia, thieves, prisons, terrible things that I should have avoided if I had more courageous. "

"I do not understand."

"You don't see it, Lev? All my life I have always done what others want and see where it had led me to? I used to blame the cruelty of fate, treachery of men but the ugly truth was I was too coward to stand up for myself. I had to trade too many things but finally I had realized that a man's true happiness is freedom even if it means death. When you entered that room, you did not simply give me the choice between going or staying. You was the first man who give me freedom, freedom to do what I wanted and I chose here with you and Miska despite all the dangers it brought. No matter what happens next, I don't care anymore. I am willing to accept all the consequences that come after my decision so I would rather die than leaving the three of you like a beaten dog.

If someone else heard what he said, they would immediately tell that there was something wrong with his mind. Hoàng wouldn't blame them because it was common for people to not understand what had never experienced. A man with a strong personality like Lev was a bad choice for him to confide but dying and forgetting to tell the world what he really felt was as bad as it was. Although Hoang could still die in this place, at least there was someone who knew he was not a coward.

"So you're ready to die just because you don't want other people involved in your decision?"

"That's right." Hoàng replied with a grunt "You can laugh if you want."

"No! I won't do that. "Lev shook his head." But you should have talked to me about this earlier. "

Lev then put his hand into the bag under his belt and took out a handgun. He carefully checked the mag before pulling the slide backwards.

"Because I need time to teach you how to use this properly." Lev put the gun into his hand. "Once you are determined to go with us, at some point you have to use weapons, but let hope that is not tonight because I am not a good training officer to begin with. Now the basic steps first. The safety pin near the hammer is currently on, using your thumb to switched it off . This Makarov is smaller than other type of handguns so you may find it a bit inconvenient "

"No, I feel it fits very well." Hoang's hands were not very big either. His mother once said it had many feminine features with long and round fingers. "What is next?"

"Aiming and pulling trigger, that is just enough for the time being. If we survived tonight, I will guide you to assemble and maintain your own personal firearm. "

Hoang rolled his eyes "Do you allow me to keep it?"

"Why not? You are part of the OKP-1. "Lev repeated what he had said a few days ago. "And there's there is one more thing left to do. Because you're a soldier under me, so there's something you need to do right now. "

"Yes?"

"Can you call me _Captain_ or _Sir_ ?" Lev tried to be serious but couldn't hide the smile on his face "Yuri will be upset greatly if he saw you addressing me by name. I get tired of him whining no- stop about how informal Miska is and it's best not to add oil to the fire. "

"I see, Captain" He raised his hand to salute him and imitated Yuri's voice "I need an order sir."

Lev Abramovich couldn't help but giggling. It was hard to imagine when someone like him would be able to respond to his joke in the midst of such a critical situation like this one, but it seems it wasn't wrong to say that being at edge of death provoked craziness in every human being, even though that person could be a commander from Spetsnaz. Or might be from the start, the Captain had known there was no danger here because only a few minutes later, the thing that the four of them had long waited for had finally arrived. A husky male voice rang out on the communication channel:

_"Host to Seagull, can you hear me, over?"_


	13. The Doctor

THE DOCTOR

_Suburb of Stuttgart, Germany_

_1:00 PM_

_Rehabilitation and recovery centre St. Michael belongs to the US Army_

"So it is decided. That patient is yours. "

Speaking of which, the honorable director, Frank Miller, bent and signed his name on the transfer form. He was a sixty-two-year-old man with a bald head, sagging chin and black eyes like a rat's eye, always deliberately speaking quickly and acting hastily to avoid of being considered to be old and lazy.

"Done. Sign your name here. "

Miller pushed the application to his subordinate, William Moore. William was only in his forties, athletic body, tanned skin like the Greeks, the result of a good old day passionate about football then swimming, a hobby William had to get used to after he broke his knee in the football match between Brown and Hayden in 1995. He was an tall, strong and nice-looking male medical student, and today he was an elegant and charming middle-aged doctor who received a lot of favor from women under fifty years. It hadnt changed much, William thought.

"Why are you insisting that I should be in charge of this patient?" William signed his name on the application "Is there anything special about him?"

"Not really. He only had cause less trouble than other patients than you had ever treated." Director Miller rubbed his ugly chin. "After what happen between you and Laura, I think it's best for you to start slowly. "

An elegant and charming doctor didn't always mean a perfect husband. His wife always knew that and when he tried to be perfect, things got worse and worse. The crack in the dam had appeared many years ago but somehow he did not notice it and when the cataclysm came, his marriage was swept away in the muddy water. Whose fault was it William did not know, but he only hoped that Laura did not look at him with eyes that seemed to say:

_"Don't be sad, honey. It's not your fault, it's just the end of us. "_

"I'm alright" He tried to sound refreshed "You don't need to treat me that way, Chief."

"You are a experienced doctor here and a good friend. I don't want to exhaust you. As I said, please take it easy. "

_It was strange that those words come from a man like you and they are for a man like me_, William thought.

"Who is in charge of this… Beck Fraser?" He asked, "I need to talk to him."

"She" Director Miller corrected him "And I had called her up here to speak to you."

There was a knock on the door, William turned around to see a familiar figure standing behind the opaque glass. A sad smile appeared on his lip as he blamed himself for not guessing this earlier.

"Come in, Emma," The Director called out "Come in."

William got up from the chair when Emily came in, a gesture that gentlemen used to do in front of ladies like telling them that they were being respected. Sometimes, in a silly and wishful thinking, he wondered if he would do it every time he met Laura, whether their marriage would be saved.

"Will, I'm sorry." The woman gently took his hand, There was sadness lurking in her brown eyes "Are you alright? Should you take more day off?"

"I'm fine, Emma." He smiled weakly "Getting back to work is much better than vacation. You know I don't like traveling right?"

"You're right." Emma nodded and put his hand down, then she looked over at her man with affection. "How is today, darling?"

"It can't be better," Frank Miller reach out his hand for her. "Come here, my love."

The woman walked over and kissed the director's glossy forehead, making him giggled. A normal person looking at it would be a bit embarrassed by such a scene, but William did not think the couple dared to do so in front of anyone but longtime employees like him. Emily was only half the age of Frank and when they got married, many people joked that Frank should have taken Emily to the church not her father. Of course Frank didn't know anything about that mean joke, but William wasn't sure about his wife. Women often have their own secrets, he had learn this painful leason with Laura.

"William needs to know something about the patient in room number 8." Frank kissed the young wife's hand. "You had done very good job but let Will take care of the rest."

"I understand." Emma adjusted her collar and said, "Patient's names is Beck Fraser, thirty-three years old, has several serious injuries to his face and head with many burns that we haven't yet removed the bandage, his right hand is also heavy burned but healed in time. He was transferred here about two month ago and has a memory loss. "

"But there is no serious brain damage" William mused, "Psychogenic amnesia? Post-traumatic stress disorder? "

"The medical file does not record any other lesions in the head area, so it is probably Psychogenic amnesia. Short term memory loss at best. I have prescribed sedation and pain relief for him in three week, as well as encouraging him to interact with people here, but so far no progress has been made. Sometime he did seemed to remember a thing or two but they are just flash in his mind and weird dream."

"Bringing him back to the US with his family would be be better." He said, "Moving him to a hospital near where his family lives would be best, those burns need to be taken care of anyway."

"We cant , William." She shook her head. "He doesn't have anyone."

"What do you mean he doesn't have anyone?"

"His profile never mentioned any relatives, including his parents. I only found one phone number written on it but couldn't make contact. I also tried to call anyone I know, even the Pentagon to verify it but they said that phone number does not exist. "

William could smell the trouble I was going to face. He had helped young people who lost their legs and arms to reintegrate into the community, showing those who suffer from paranoia that fear only existed in their heads, or recently convinced husbands to choose to spend night with their wives on the bed instead of a newly dug hole in the garden. All of that was, technically ,difficult, but William was a good doctor. Until now, he had never tasted defeat, even if the patient had schizophrenia. However, even a good doctor did not want to test his talent on an amnesia patient without a single relative. The ghost without past, that was the word for man like him and. If there was nothing to link Fraser to the previous life of his, the chances of him entirely forgetting all of it weren't small.

_Yet he told me to start slowly_

"I will need more information about this patient. Let's start with the unit he serves, his best friends in the army, his commanding officer, Facebook account, youtube channel, whatever as long as it tells who Beck Fraser is. "

"Perhaps you should go to Hannah." The lovely wife suggested, "I have taken all the military files, medical records and other relevant documents to the will find what you need there but if you still have questions, just give me a call. "

"Thank you, Emma. You helped me too much." William smiled wryly." But there is one thing I am still not clear of. Earlier, Frank told me that he was less likely to cause trouble than others. What does it mean specifically? "

"Ah, um ... Let's see." Emma hesitated. "He was a little more quiet than most of a man, just like to be alone, sometimes I found him sitting motionless and staring into empty space or a wall. From my observeation during last few weeks, Fraser is a type of person who is not sociable but also does not appear to be violent or easily agitated. "

It could be a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder but William would make make a diagnosis based on the question, he needed to directly check Beck Fraser.

"Thank you, Emma." He hurriedly stood up. "I'll get to work now, good day Frank."

"Remember to take your time my friend" Frank Miller reminded him. "Or I will give more day off."

Outside, it was wet and cold. The autumn in Germany was as cold and damp as in America, only the autumn here had a very specific nuance of Central Europe. The first fallen leaves of the autumn would begin to decompose and emit an unpleasant moldy smell after a heavy rainy week. It was unfortunate for William because the hospital was next to the edge of the forest, so at this time of year every year, he had to pray for the winter to come a little earlier. He did not like this rotten smell because it gave him the feeling that the world around him was also rotten and dying.

_Like the marriage of the two of us. _He bitterly though_. I should have noiticed the signs a long time ago but somehow I didn't_.

Correcting the mouse-colored scarf on his neck, William walked down the empty hallway leading to the east of the hospital. About fifty meters away from him, on the courtyard for sunbathing and outdoors activity, a group of patients was playing the badminton. The doctor immediately recognized two people in the group. Dixon, a Marines who had one arm cut off by a old soviet mine, was trying to use his other arm to defend against weak attacks from Simon Perez, a Lieutenant lost both of his feet and half his face by a roadside bomb in Iraq. There were about ten people gathered around them and none looked interested at the game. Not because the performance was so bad that made them bored to death but because no one, not even two players, really wanted to play it. Frank always believed that "violent" sports would have unpleasant effect on recovery of patients and what was before William was the Director's typical example of a non violent sport..

_Maybe I will build a basketball hoop pole in the middle of the yard for them. It would help their morale._

At the end of the corridor was a crossroad. On his right was the hallway that would lead him to the archive, while on the left was the inpatient care area. Without hesitation, William decided to turn left. When he was at the Academy, William always proudly told everyone that a thousand pages of documents would not be equal to ten minute of direct examination and the impressive record of the next twenty years was an perfect excuse for him to justify his laziness at reading. Moreover, today he was in no mood to sit in the middle of the dusty documents.

The inpatient care area was an old building built during World War II with Gothic decor and three separate floors. The first floor is arranged for serious injuries with half of patients was still the comma. The second floor is for patients in the recovery phase and the third floor, where Beck Fraser was currently staying was the land of lost souls. And him, Dr. William Moore would be the angle who guide him out of shadow land and rejoin the realm of the living

"Señor Moore?"

A shrill voice rang out as William stood in front of the elevator door. The doctor turned around to see Salome's stout figure, the Mexican-born nurse with broad shoulders and big arms like men. She liked to call him señor instead of _a doctor_ and often spoke Spanish no-stop when she got excited.

"How is New York Señor?" She gave him a bright welcome smile. "Coming home after a long time, you must be happy."

That means that his story with Laura had not been revealed yet. A good thing because he did not like people to pity his miserable marriage, a gesture that William used to call a reluctant sympathy before a corpse.

"Cramped, dusty and messy" He pretended to be excited "And it just made me miss you more, Salome"

" Eres tan dulce, Señor" she got overjoyed after hearing that. "Which wind brings you here today?" A patient I guess? "

"Yes, room number 8, third floor."

Salome's face suddenly darkened, her body stiffened, her fingers clenched into her palm and William could see that she was trembling.

"Is it Diabl .. Fraser?" She said very quietly, almost like whispering, "Mr. Beck Fraser is your patient, isn't it?"

"Right. Is there a problem with him? "

"No, nothing "The nurse shook her head." I'm sorry, Seor. I have work to do right away. Good day to you. "

After saying that, Salome hurriedly left and disappeared behind the door of the intensive care room, leaving William standing there with two questions in his mind. The first is how could a big fat woman like her be able to walk so fas in tiny shoes like that, and what the hell was she afraid of? Emma had told Fraser wasn't violent one, and to be honest, the Mexican-born nurse wasn't the kind of maiden fair who went fainted after seeing a single drop of blood to begin with.

"There's only one way to know." William dipped his shoulders and stepped into the elevator.

Room 8 was no different than other rooms on the third floor. One bed, a toilet and a small flower pot on the oak table opposite window facing the edge of the forest. When William walked in, Beck Fraser was sitting next to the table and doing what Emily called " _Staring into the empty space unconsciously_ ".

"Mr. Fraser." William called him softly, as if he was gently waking a sleeping man. "Mr. Fraser."

The man slowly turned around. His face was wrapped in bandages from his forehead to his neck, revealing only a part of his mouth, two eye sockets, and pinch of hair on his head. Fraser's black eyes, like two coal stone, hesitated to look at Wiliiam and he could feel the confusion behind the gauze.

_The man needs answers, not questions_

"Mr. Fraser. I'm William Moore, your new doctor. "He introduced himself actively and glanced at the empty bed." Can I sit? "

"Y-yes, I don't see why you shouldn't "

The doctor sat down on the bed, his hands intertwined as he leaned forward, trying to be both relax and friendly at the same time. The patient's trust in his doctor was always important during the treatment process but for patients like Beck Fraser it was way more meaningful than usual. His physical condition was completely fine but it was his soul that took heavy damage.

"You must be wondering where Dr. Miller is? Please don't worry, she's still here. Safe and sound, "William assured." I am the replacement for Emily to take care of you , something I should have done from the beginning but because of some unexpected things, I had to let her take on that task while I'm absent. "

The man nodded but said nothing. William smiled wryly.

"I think Dr. Miller asked you these questions too, but due to the requirements of the treatment, I have to bother you to answer them again. First of all, do you remember what your name is?

"Beck Fr-Fraser, I think that's my name." Fraser answered. The bandage wrapped around his mouth and pharynx made his voice sound like a French trying to speak English.

"You are not sure it is your name?"

"Dr. Miller showed me the ... my…milita ..."

"Your military file, right?"

William grimaced and took out a black notebook then wrote a few dead lines on the page:

_Patients have difficulty using language. Prepare room D-4 – schedule for futhe tests._

"My military file, yes she showed me what was in it." Beck Fraser nodded. "I saw photos of me and my name on it." Suddenly there was sadness in his voice " The photo of former "me" I assume, I don't think I would look like that under these bandages, doctor."

Shit! He need to distract him to another subject right away or thing could turn badly for him and Fraser.

"You can read?" Willam looked up at him, pretending to be exicted "That is good to hear."

"A little bit but there are a few ... words I can read but don't understand their meaning."

"So do you know what this place is, Mr. Fraser?" William looked around the room. "Do you know where you are right now?"

"A Hospital" He replied

"You understand the concept of hospital or it's told you what it is?"

"I know it's the place where they treat those are ill" He said "But Dr. Miller said this place was a special hospital."

"Yes, this is a hospital for United States military personnel and you are a soldier of the United States of America."

Beck Fraser is silent on that information. William continues:

"You were injured on the battlefield and brought here to recover. Burns on your body are gradually healed, but for your memory, we have to to wait and see. Don't worry, they will come back to you soon if treated properly. "

Beck Fraser looked down at his damaged hands which was vover with burns, most of them just newly healed, before lightly touching the bandages wrapping around his face.

"I ... Am I hurt? Th-that's ... how could ... why don't I remember? "

"We'll talk about it later." William didn't want to him push him too hard on the first day "Now, let me know what you had remembered in the past month. Slowly but don't be hesitated. Whatever you can recall would help me very much. It can be a familiar scene, an object you used, the taste of a dish you once ate or friends you knew in the military. You must have a lot of friends, right Fraser? In my experience, brave soldier like you always have many friends. "

"No." The man answer with the dissapointment about himself and let out a sigh. "I can't remember anything."

"Nothing at all? Are you sure about that Mr. Fraser? You can tell me anything you remembered, don't be shy"

"Nothing" He repressed again.

William set aside his notebook and walked up to where his paitent sat. He knew that he needed to play Beck Fraser's friend in these four walls, at least until he remembered his real friends.

"It's okay, Beck. Could I call you that?" He put a hand on his shoulder and received a nod. "I think it is enough for today, you did well. Tomorrow, I will come to get you to do some tests and you will feel better. Now you should rest "

But when William was about to leave, Beck Fraser looked up at him again. Strangely, his sleepy eyes looked more alert than ever before. The doctor felt intense emotions dancing in it, emotions that even his own master could not understand.

"I saw something." He suddenly grabbed William's shirt and startled him. "In a dream, I saw a woman."

"A woman?" Surprise William "You saw your girlfriend in a dream?"

"No, she wasn't! And she wasnt really a woman either, she was like a girl. She stood there in a red dress with a heavy and long thing in her hand. I thought it was a weapon but somehow she held it as easily as she was holding a toy. She stood in the moonlight as if waiting for someone. Then she looked up at the sky and she smiled. I saw her laughing under the moonlight, Doctor "

"A red-dressed girl smiles under the moonlight?" William pretended to be surprised. He had seen more crazy things than this. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"You just asked me if I remembered any friends, doctor." Beck Fraser answered, "I don't know who she is but I have a feeling that she's not my friend."

.

* * *

William returned home at midnight with a stack of papers and an empty stomach. After leaving Room 8, he locked himself for hours in the archives, reread pages after pages about Beck Fraser in hopes of finding something useful before paying a visist to the library - something he rarely done for twenty years - then brought back a stack of reference books. The younger self of him would surely grimace at such things but now was not the time for personal ego to hinder the work.

_A man should not live forever with past._

The Doctor told himself so as he put his foot on the steps of the small suburban home and noticed something unusual. Indoor lights were still on.

William lived alone and never forgot to turn off the light when going out. With inherent caution, he placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it gently.

_Door is not locked_

Inside, a greasy aroma wafted in the air. William flustered as he reached for the baseball bat next to the door.

_SCRASH! _

There was a sound of glass breaking. The doctor immediately ran to the kitchen, where the sound came from and it was there, he caught the intruder.

"Good evening, Willie." The intruder - the woman - looked up at him, fragments of porcelain lying near her black high heel. She smiled and asked tenderly "Are you going to help me making the cake with that?"

"Good God, Emma!" He cried out loud, the bat in his hand fell to the ground. "You scared the shit out of me."

"You act as if this was the first time." She folded her arms, pretending to be angry. "I have a your house's key, remember dear?"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Cooking dinner for you" Emily plays "What else can I do? I saw you sitting in the there all the day and as I remember you said you never liked the food at the hospital. "

"That's not what I mean. Where is Frank? "

"In Munich, another golf session for hospital directors, I don't know for sure. He received a call in the afternoon the went off "The woman replied nonchalantly and bent down to open the refrigerator door." Do you have Whiskey? It's all red wine on the cabinet. "

"Second compartment on the right."

Depressed William loosened the tie on his neck and sat down on the chair.

The couple had a night meal with omelette, ham, salad and ending with dessert on the bed. Emily's lips had a taste of apple whiskey and her skin smelled of white plum blossoms, just like the first time they hugged each other on this bed. But no tears. She had cried wet his bare shoulder when they made love, but he was unsure whether it was tears of sadness or happiness.

They came together about a year ago, without a promise or explanation. Emily did not like to mention them and he was afraid to ask. But once, William touched his hand on the surface of the lake and received an answer:

_I don't know why I got Frank anymore. Ten years ago, I was just a stray cat who needed a house and maybe because of that, I accepted his proposal. The Miller children are very cute and they need a mother so I decided to stay. Frank is a good man in his own way and that's why I waited until now to get into your bed. Do you think it is love or merely admiration plus convenience? Those at the wedding seem to prefer the latter._

William did not have an answer to that but he should have asked her whether the thing they were doing was love.

"What are you thinking?"

Emily rested her head on William's chest, her body naked beneath the thin blanket. Her hand slid down his lower body and made his manhood harden. They had had sex twice during the night and William thought he still had the strength required for the third.

"My patient." He lied.

"God!" She chuckled. "Do you really want to talk about it now?"

"I'm a doctor and Beck Fraser is an interesting case. Medically, of course, I found interest in talking about him. "

"If you think I am interested in ghost stories, then you are dead wrong."

"Ghost story?" He was surprised. "You mean the girl in red? Well, I admit it is a bit weird but that's not a ghost story. "

"Salome thought otherwise." She said, "She doesn't dare to get close to room 8 by ten steps after I told her what Beck dreamed of every night"

_She was afraid because of a story coming from a person who couldn't remember her name._

William drew a long line on his lover's bare back with his finger, making her moan softly. "Actually what made you notice Fraser's condition, didn't you see it?" For a person with dementia due to psychological shock, he is unusually conscious, don't you think? "

"Sometimes it's because people deliberately forget it, Will." Her voice was a little sad. "If you were Beck, would you like to recall the time before, when there was nothing for you outside of lonliness and horrors? Maybe this is a little contrary to professional ethics, but I really don't want you to cure the poor man at all. "

"Then I am going to be disappointed." He laughed haughtily. "As I remember, I am still the best doctor here and it will be a long time before that title belongs to you."

Emily lightly pinched his thigh. "Arrogant prick."

The doctor turned to lie on his lover, clutching his small breast, his lower body was as hard as possible.

William is ready for the third time.

"Isn't that one of my lovely part, Emma? I'm arrogant, but I'm fair and if I help you to bring Fraser to Dr. Hood's place tomorrow, I'll give you a present now. "

"Hood?" Emily was surprised. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing serious" He assured her "There's just one thing I need to clarify"

Then their lips pressed against each other, an emotion storm broke out and swept them to the sea of lust. William was not sure what happened next, except that he collapsed like a tree after being satisfied and quickly fell asleep. It was morning, he woke up alone in bed. Emily had left his arms and arrived at the hospital as usual. A good habit when they didn't want to be seen showing up together too often.

That day, William came to work very late, and his body ached as if he had just participated in a marathon race. Standing in front of the mirror in the hospital's toilet, with dark circles formed around his eyes and a silver strands appeared near the temple, the doctor could only let out a sigh:

"I'm getting old for this."

At the age of forty, physically he wouldn't be considered to be old but when the mind had begun to get tired due to wounds of past and worries of the future, people always felt like they were older than their real age. Doctors call this the beginning of the middlelife crisis, which William was so desperated that he had to pray to the Lord so that I wouldn't experience. It would be a nightmare if he had to enter the counseling room as a patient. .

After washing and drying the face with a towel, the doctor felt a little more sober, he quickly left the bathroom and headed to the archive area. The first thing today was to meet Hannah to receive the materials he had requested from Department of Defense. William was forced to annoy some people in Washington when he couldn't find anything useful about Beck Fraser in the hospital's useless file. More than two-thirds of the pages that recorded his activity in Afghanistan were blacked out while the rest if was not medical records were PAX1 bills.

They act as if everyone was somekind of Jason Bourne or top serect agent and it pissed him off to no end. Since the last year information leakage at the Pentagon, security on accessing to information had been pushed to another new level just like everytime when there was a leak. No one really knew how effective these messures were but William only sees all the troubles they brought to him.

"Hello, Hannah." He knocked on the half-closed door in front of her room. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, of course, Dr. Moore." The woman in charge of the Archive politely nodded her head.

Hannah was a petite black-haired girl who was only twenty-six years old, slightly indifferent and quiet. In the past, she worked at the hospital's administrative room while the manager of the archive at that time was Forester , an old man with chronic joint pain who had just retired two years ago. Frank said that letting a person who less likely sticked her nose into other's stuff like Hannah to befriend with dusty document was a very reasonable decision and up to now, the Director's employing theory still proved it worth. William had never heard any complaints about her from anyone.

"The file I requested has arrived, hasn't it?"

Hannah gave him a puzzled look, "I has Doctor Moore, but ..."

"But what?"

The woman in charge of the Archive did not answer. She took a sheet of paper from the drawer and placed it on the table.

"When I called them under your authority, they just faxed me this."

William picked up the paper to read it and gasped in surprise. "What is this?"

"I don't know, Dr. Moore."

That wasn't the kind of paper they love to send when denying his request nor approving it. There was no doubt that paper was sent from the Department of Defense cause the seals were hard to fake but why the hell they send this thing to him?

001 434 334672

_There was only a series of number looked like phone number written on the paper. Beside it, nothing else._

_Code of Virginia?_

"Have you called this number?"

"Of course not, Dr. Moore," Hannah seemed to be offended by that "It's for you."

"Please forgive me, Hannah." He regretted "Thank you very much."

William left the storage room in confusion. He had been accustomed to DOD's reluctance to cooperate for many years, but this was the first time they confused him. Why did they send this number without explaining a word? Even if this was the number of the orphanage that Fraser grew up, at least there must be a few words. Things were starting to go off the tracks so William saw the need to consult a higher authority.

His thoughts were interrupted by Emily. William met her on the stoney path ran throught the small garden that led to the director's room, where it was inadvertently the place they met most beside his comfy bed.

"William!" She called his name and walked over. "What's wrong?" Did you come to find Frank? "

"He's not back yet?"

She shook her head and laughed. "He wont be here for a few days, you know how much my husband loves that fancy sport. But what's wrong? "

William then told the story to his lover, starting from the shortcomings of Beck Fraser's file to the strange fax.

"Can you believe it? They just sent me this. "He handed the paper to Emily.

"That's strange." She bit her lip. "This is the phone number in the file I saw before."

"Impossible? Are you sure? "

"Sure." Emily asserted. "I've called this number dozens of times already, this is exactly it. If you don't believe it, just check it out. "

But William could not do that. He left all the file at home while driving to the hospital with a mouth full of sandwich . Many times he regretted having slept with Emily, possibly due to guilt he felt when he betrayed Laura and stabbed Frank in the back, but he had never been resentful to his penis like this time.

"Okay, I trust you." He surrendered his hands. "Forget it, how's Fraser?"

"Being with Hood, he wants a general check so it'll be longer than I expected." The woman suddenly gave a meaningful smile, her hand gently stroking his collar. "What should we do until that, my dear William? "

"I'll return to my room and wait."

William answered and tried to get out of there immediately. If he lingered, he didn't think he could resist the her charm. The arrogance of a man always convinced William that Emily fell to him because of his masculinity, but the reality showed the opposite. She was the one who was in charge of this relationship.

Returning to the private office, the Doctor only had one thing to do while his patient and the Director were not available.

"Let hope I'm lucky this time." He grunted as he pick up the receiver. Honestly, William was among the most unlucky gambler in the world, but that couldn't stop him burning money into roulette whenever he came to Vegas, so why it would now?

_Topple ... Little ... Little_

_There was signal on the other side of the line! Did Emily miss it? _He thought briefly and continued to wait. After about ten second, it was true that someone picked up the phone. A strong, male voice like two metal bars collided with each other answering him.

_"This is Colonel Hart Sayer."_

Sayer? I seemed like He had heard this name somewhere already.

"Good morning Colonel. I am William Moore, "He politely introduced himself:" Doctor of _Rehabilitation and recovery centre St. Michael _in Germany. "

_"Oh, so it mean they moved Beck to Europe?"_

"Forgive me, Colonel," William cleared his throat. " It would be rude but It is my responsibility to ask why do you know Beck Fraser? Who are you and why did the Department of Defense give me your number? "

_"You just need to know that I command a combat unit of the US Army and Beck Fraser served under my command in Afghanistan."_ The Colonel replied, _"The DOD has received a request to access documents from you and they appoint me to be your... you can call it __Instructor. "_

"Instructor?"

_"The profile you requested contain highly sensitive info, so you need a guide, or to make it easier to understand, you only know what I allow to know."_

_If I had known this before, I wouldn't have signed that fucking paper! Fuck you, Frank! _With just that much, William instantly understood what he was involved in. Beck Fraser was not a random soldier, he was a member of unit that the US government would refuses its existence or something worse. He heard a lot of rumors about such men from his other paitents. Most of the stories were hard to verify and for a long time, in the eyes of Willam, they were nothing more than a product of fear, paranoia and gossip. However, since the SPECTER's scandal last year, he was no longer as confident as before.

"I understand." He said, "You are the one who censor the documents before it is sent to me. I understand the protocol but the question is when will I receive it? With Fraser's current condition now, the longer you delay, the more dangerous it will be. "

Somehow, William had the feeling that the Colonel was having a amused smile on the other end of the line.

_"You're talking to the document, Dr. Moore. What do you want to know first?"_

They discussed over the phone for half an hour. The colonel was quite open to him when talking about the time before joining army of Fraser, but when William mentioned his combat activities, Hart immediately pointed out_. "We cant talk about this"_ Or _" You have no authority to access such information. "_ And refused to answer.

"So does Beck Fraser have a late single mother named Walda Fraser? How did she die? "

_"According to the police forensic report, it was due to a drug shock."_ The Colonel replied, _"Seventeen years ago."_

"Oh my God! He's just a kid. "William took his hand and squeezed the bridge of his nose." Did Fraser mention anything about it? "

_"Not a word. Beck is a quite person and we never discuss such things in the unit. It's easy to understand why he has choose to keep quiet about this tragic and I don't think digging into such things is a good idea. "_

"I would consider."

In William's experience, painful events were like a double-edged sword. It will either create a breakthrough in the treatment process or cause the patient to be agitated so that he would lose control eventually and if Beck Fraser was someone like William thought he was then he didn't want to provoke the violent part in him at all.

_"How's he going?"_

"Obedient like a Lamb."

_"Lamb? That's good to hear, at least he hasn't forgotten who he is. "_

"What did you just say?"

_"Nothing, Dr. Moore."_ The Colonel said, " _Call me back in two days and we will talk again. Goodbye"_

Then he hung up. William leaned against the chair, his eyes was heavy and slowly closed. He rarely had a proper sleep in two day. If it was not Fraser's treatment, it was because of the mistress and her enthusiasm in sex that tired him out so when both he and Emily were still at Hood's place, it seemed to be a golden opportunity,

But when he slowly sank into a dream, the phone rang. William jerked and rubbed his eyes and picked it up.

"Dr. Moore listening"

_"Will, you need to go to meet Hood now."_ It was Emily's voice.

"What happened to Fraser?" He asked in a panic and was surprised that the first idea flashed in his mind.

_"No, I brought him back to his room but Hood wants to see you now. He said it was an emergency. "_

"Alright, I'll be right there."

William hung up the phone. He then grap the his white blouse that hung near the door and leave.

.

.

* * *

Hood's office was in the West wing of St. Michael, the most important area of the hospital with the operating room, emergency room, recovery room, and study area connected together in a form of giant circle. The vacant land in the middle was a helipad, which once received up to ten flights a day but since the Iraq war has cooled down so far, he rarely saw it being used.

"You're late."

Eric Hood sat behind an black wooden table, the ashen shirt matched with his grey ruffled hair and his funny moustache. Judging by the appearance, he looked exactly like Albert Einstein except that Eric was not a Jew and had no interest in classical music. He was hot-temper control freak that jump on his feet when thing wouldn't go as planned and an extremist on sanitary.

"Sorry, I had an important call this morning." William pulled his chair and sat down. "What's the problem with my patient?"

Dr. Hood however did not answer, he took out a yellow folder from the drawer and placed it on the table. As the old man flipped and skim through each page then said, William could hear the sound of teeth gritting " blood test, good. Circulatory system normal. Lungs, heart and liver, nothing to worry about. Burns on paitent's body are recovering quickly. "The doctor pulled out an X-ray picture from the folder and handed it to William" And this is the reason I ask you to come here. "

The photo was the skull X-ray of Beck Fraser. At first glance, there was nothing unusual, but when William took a closer look, he saw a small tendon on the left side of the skull.

"Is this ... a crack?" William was dismayed. He still could not believe his eyes. "Where does it come from? How?"

"That's what I have to ask you!" Eric Hood sternly said, "Why can you let a patient with such a serious head injury walk around like that ? I want him to be put on special care right now and I also need the prescription Emily used for Fraser last month. God knows if those drug will affect his brain. "

"Wait, Eric." William raised his hand to stop his colleague. "Why is a head wound there? I do not understand."

"What do you mean?"

"His medical record did not mention any head injury." He said, "I have read the file over and over again and believe me, so did Emily, so there was no way we all missed something that big. There has been some mistake here. "

"Then I am sorry to announce that both you and Emily are mistaken. It was a disastrous mistake but fortunately for us that his wound was treat very well and that explain why until this moment we have not seen any serious complications yet. "Eric Hood point the tobaco pipe at him. "Someone had treat him. The question is who? "

"The file says Fraser was injured in Afghanistan and was treated in Kabul before moving to Germany and ..."

"That's bullshit." The grumpy doctor rudely interrupted. "The field hospital is not enough equipment to operate the appendix, let alone brain surgery, and even with the right equipment, the chance for him to survive was not much. Your patient should have been an a dead man for a long time, but somehow he's still alive and well. With thirty years of experience, I am sure this is the product of a hospital specializes in surgery with the world's top doctors. "

"But if that's true, why did they send him to us?" He retorted, "Why do they hide the wound on his head?"

William could understand why they did not tell him the true identity of Fraser, but for what reason did he misrepresent his medical record? It didnt bring any benefits apart from hindering treatment. Emily had wasted a lot of time in last month just because Beck Fraser had a hole in his head instead of his soul.

Eric put his hands on the edge of the table and lazily leaned back, his gaze filled with suspicion.

"What the hell is going on, Will? You are hiding something from me right? "

He did not know what to say because even he himself did not have the answer. He can tell his colleague about Hart Sayer, but that only made the situation more complicated and dangerous.

"No, Eric" William said, "I don't hide anything from you."

"Really?" He didn't seem to believe it "You look like there's something you want to say."

"Listen, I know nothing but the information they gave me. I didn't even know who Beck Fraser was until Frank forced me to take care of him yesterday. How can this be my fault? "

"I don't blame you for anything, it's just that I feel uncomfortable when treating a patient that even the cause of his injury is unknown."

William's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't you know why the Fraser get that wound from?"

"Usually, such a serious injury are seen in traffic accidents. The head was severely wounded due to impacted, leading to skull damage and then brain hemorrhage, you knew the rest of the story. But if Beck Fraser actually had a car or helicopter accident, why was his body completely intact. If you didn't count burn on his right arm then your man had survived an serious accident without a scratch, a bone broken? It is impossible according to my experience. "

"But what cause the burns?"

"Not by fire" Eric Hood clicked his tongue. "I saw the same thing in Desert Storm, It was the work of phosphorus grenade."

William was bewildered. Did Fraser got a blast from a grenade and fell on his head against the stone? It was also unreasonable because a great force was needed to damage the brain, a fall simply couldn't do such thing.

"I used to think of the possibility that he was hit by in the head with a melee weapon. A bat, a wooden stick, an iron bar would do but the thing is i found nothing but burns and scars from the previous surgery on his head. This proves that when it happens, Beck Fraser still wore a helmet and if you assumed my speculation was correct, things would becomes weirder and weirder. To cause such a strong commotion, you need to have the same power as a small car at 40 mile per hour and of course no one or any weapon can do such a thing. "

_She stood there in a red dress with a heavy and sharp object in her hand._

The words in Fraser's delirium fluttered in William's ears. Did the mysterious girl have anything to do with his current state or is it just a product of fear and paranoia like William was so sure ?

_No, it's not! It can't be true and I should stop thinking about it unless i want to move my room to the third floor._

Leaving Hood's place, William took a step to the Inpatient area. He met Emily at the foot of the ground floor staircase, her hands cupping a bundle of beautiful Rudbeckia, radiant like the summer sun.

"Where's Fraser?" He asked

"Still in his room." She causally answered "Are you going to meet him?"

"Yes."

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You men always have that serious look on your faces when hidding something" Emily punched William on the shoulder and handed him a bundle of Rudbeckia. "If you don't want me to know then fine. But can you bring this to Beck?"

Inside room 8, everything was the same as yesterday. A bed, a flower on the table opposite the window with Beck Fraser sitting next to it, quietly like a statue. William stepped closer and inserted Rudbeckia flowers into the jar. This action seemed to attract the attention of the bandaged man.

"What is this?" He asked without turning around, his eyes were still on the black forest outside.

"Emily's gift." He replied with a sigh. "She thinks they will make your room warmer."

"But I don't feel cold."

William laughed bitterly. "Just a metaphor, Beck, metaphor."

The doctor sat down on the bed and did not know what to say. What should he start with? Hart Sayer, the crack in Fraser's skull or they about to replace him with another doctor? And while he was still hesitating, Fraser asked him first:

"The Test results are not good, right?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You weren't here when I came back, so I guess you went to see that old grumpy doctor," Beck Fraser said, calmly and steadily "You also looked more depressed than yesterday and just now, you suddenly called me Beck."

Seeing William's bewildered expression, he immediately explained:

"Doctors are only more intimate than usual when they have to report bad news."

Beck Fraser was too bright for a person with dementia. William once thought he was smart, but he was much more than that.

"I won't call it bad news, just a misdiagnosis and you'll have another doctor."

"Why?"

"It is better to let Hood explain it to you." William plays "This is outside my specialty but since you still have my patients today, we will continue the unfinished work of the day before. Do you agree? "

Beck Fraser turned to him and nodded slightly.

"What does the name Hart Sayer mean to you, Beck?" William began. "This morning I just talked to him over the phone and he knew you."

"Not very much." The man shook his head. "I think I heared Dixon mentioned him in the yard before, he said Hart Sayer was a legend living on the battlefield, sometimes he calls him Poker. I'm not sure why, but he is quite famous to the people here. "

_I knew it! _It was true William had heard the Colonel's name somewhere.

"Don't you feel impressed at all? He claimed to be your commanding officer, or once. "

Beck Fraser shrugged, a sad smile appeared between the white bandages. "I don't even understand what a _Commanding Officer_ is."

"Well, I don't know how to explain it either, but he's basically the one who will tell you to do this or not to do that. The man with the big hat that you have to stand solemnly when speaking to him or something like that. "

His patient did not have much interest in the information. William wondered if it was due to his poor interpretation or Beck really did not care about recovering his memory as Emily had warned. The bandage covered every expression on Fraser's face while the eyes always looked at everything with a melancholy, indifferent attitude so it was hard for William to know what he was really thinking ...

"What about the woman in red? Do you still dream about her? "

"A girl, not a woman," He corrected him "I know what a woman looks like, doctor. Emily Miller is a woman, Salome is a woman but she is not. "

"I understand" He nodded. "Yesterday, you told me she wasn't your friend. What do you mean by that? "

The man shook his head again. "I'm not sure. But something told me to stay away from her. She ... She ... "His voice suddenly trembled." Her whole body… She had a smell of a something terrible. No! No, that's not right! Not just her! Everything around her was pitch black and smelly, I didn't know what it was but when I touched the ground ... I ... "

Beck Fraser's hand was turned into a fist, his head was low, his eyes were wet. "My hands were blacken and smelled like them. Do you understand, Doctor? My hands smell like they do. "

"They? Who are they?"

"They're dead." The man whispered, so softly that William thought it was a breath. "They're all dead."

William got up and walked over to Fraser. The doctor knelt down on one knee, raised his patient's face with both of his hands and suddenly saw his reflection on the two black coal stone.

"Who died, Beck?" He asked "Who?"

"IT KILLED THEM ALL!"

He roared and what happened after that was a freaking mess. William tried to control the situation by holding his shoulders down. The doctor was a tall man with strong arms but Beck Fraser was a well-trained killer. In just a blink of an eye, before William was awared of how fucked he was, the bandaged man had grasped his wrist and then bent it counterclockwise. The doctor cried out in pain before being thrown aside like a potato sack.

When William was still crawling on the brick floor with his broken wrist, Beck Fraser took advantage of the opportunity to rush out. Like every madman since the dawn of men, he ran down the hall and screamed incessantly. The entire area became turbulent, a male nurse tried to stop him near the stairs and lost two of his teeth. By the time William reached the second floor, his patient was no different from a crazy driver who would crush anything or anyone in his way.

"IT KILLED THEM ALL."

He screamed out like an injured animal. The nurses cling to each other in fear, the doctors and other employees stood where they were in shock and didn't what to do. The sound of the people calling each other, the sound of women crying, the swearing, the sound of metal bouncing on the floor, the sound of glass breaking, all of them together created a crazy symphony with Beck Fraser was the conductor and composser.

It took six assistants, two patients with a anesthetic shot to hold him down. He was tied to an ambulance handle and brought straight to the intensive care area on the day.

"What happened, Willie?"

Emily asked quietly, she covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes were teary at the scene like a battlefield on the second floor. Broken bottles scattered on the cream-colored floor, a wheeled bed with its patients lied in the middle of the hallway while doctors and nurses rushed from room to room like saliors in the storm.

"Tell me, what is it?" She repeated impatiently, "God, why did he do that?"

"Seems like ..." William wearily leaned back against the wall and sat down, his wrist twisted to the side, his whole body had lost all its strength. "...Your husband's assessment is completely wrong."

Two days later, Hart Sayer called William again as promised. The colonel sat silently listening to the doctor who detailed what had happened in the impaitent area, from the girl in red to how Beck Fraser put six hospital staffs on the treatment list.

_"Did he say that?"_ The Colonel asked, _"Did he really say that, Dr. Moore?"_

"Yes, he did. But what does it mean, Colonel? I can't understand it. He almost got mad right after that. "

_"I think we'll know soon, when he comes to Omega."_

William knew this name. It was a hospital that was believed to be under the administration of the NSA in Virginia and of course it wasn't a regular medical facility. Those who went there were either public enemies or valuable assets to the United States.

His joke about Jason Bourne had came true.

"Are you going to transfer him there?" He asked hesitantly, "When?"

_"Tomorrow"_ Hart replied, " _The papers will come to you in the afternoon."_

"But is it a little too early?"

_"As soon as possible,"_ he remarked. " _Although I can't tell you who Fraser is, you have already seen how dangerous he is. However, what worries me now is Fraser is currently unable to control his own behavior and nothing can make sure that the same incident will not be repeated. I don't need to graduate from a psychological academy to know it will happen again and believe me, the next time you will lose more than a few teeth. Tell me Dr. Moore, do you really want a bomb to explode right in your hospital? "_

William looked down at the bandage wrapped around his wrist. "No, I don't think so."

Later that night, William visited his paitent in the intensive care area. Since he was no longer the doctor responsible for Beck, the security guard gave him two minutes. The bandaged man was tied to the bed in a room without a window, his eyes closed like he were asleep as William entered.

"I came to let you know that they will transfer you to another hospital tomorrow." William said, "Have you ever heard of Omega?"

"Probably."

That monotonous voice of his somehow alway made William want to laugh. "Is this a proper time to tell a joke, Beck?"

"I tell the truth."

"I believe you" His eyes were sad. "Tomorrow I will see you off. At least that's what I can do as your former doctor. "He glanced at his watch." That's all, Beck. I wish I could stay longer but the Guard only gave me two minutes. "

But before William turned around and walked to the door, Beck Fraser immediately said,

"Sorry about your wrist, Dr. Moore."

"You mean this one?" William rubbed bandage wrapped around his arm and hand "Don't worry about it. I think it will heal soon. But I have to ask Beck, why are you so strong? "

The bandaged man giggled. This may be the first time he saw happiness in the man.

"Someday when I remember, I will tell you."

The next morning, William and two male nurses took Beck Fraser to the hospital gate in a state of being tied and unconscious. Eric Hood gave Beck a dose of sedation to make sure he wouldn't cause trouble on his way to Ramstein. Honestly, Willam did not see the necessary in this, but it seemed everyone was on alert after the incident so he did not speak out.

When they reached the outside gate, an ambulance in green-yellow stripes had been waiting for them. Next to it were three men. Two medical agents wore white gloves and a mid-age man in military uniform, wearing Beret.

"Are you Dr. Moore?"

Although he did not know his face, William could still recognize him by his voice, "Colonel Sayer?" Why are you here? "

"I'm on my way back from the Middle East. Nice to meet you. "He approached William and shook his hand then turned to look at the bandaged man lying motionless on the ambulance in worries." Is he okay? "

"A miligram of anesthetic" The doctor shugged "They don't want to risk it."

"That's good to hear"

"Why I may ask?"

"That mean you guys aren't stupid."

Hart took out a pocket of a silver cigarette case with his cigarettes lined up neatly and beautifully , as if they were waiting to be touched by their owner. The Colonel's forefinger had almost turned yellow.

"Does this place count as outside the hospital?" He asked before putting the filter between his lips. "No smoking in the ambulance."

"Well, it does ." William looked around then said "But who cares?"

Colonel Sayer lit the cigarette up, took a long pull and let out a warm smoke in the cold weather. Although he did not smoke, William knew Hood long enough to realize that the tobacco had a strange smell.

"Made in Alexandria alone." The Colonel whirled a cigarette between two fingers. "From two to five dollar for each."

_Cant believe such poison was so expensive,_ William thought.

They chatted idly about the weather while waiting for others to take Beck Fraser onto the car. The Colonel looked a little different from William's imagination but in a good way, he also secretly hoped the same thing would happen to Beck when he came to Omega.

"It's time." Hart flicked the cigarette toward the grass and shook William's hand again. "Good-bye, Dr. Moore."

The Colonel chose the seat at the back of the trunk while the two medical staff sat in the front seat. Somewhat strange but in fact, at that time, William did not pay much attention to that detail. He waved goodbye and watched over the ambulance until it disappeared in the nearby turn.

After that, the doctor sighed and went back inside.

The whole day, he wandered around the hospital, returning Beck Fraser's file to the Archive, talking to Eric Hood then meeting emily at the garden of sinner. Without Beck Fraser to take care of, he suddenly became a jobless man in his own workplace, something that William had never experienced before. But there always was the first time of it, until three days ago he had never had his wrist dislocated by one of his paitent.

"I cant believe that our mummy could cause much trouble. The guy always looked like a quite and gentle one" Dixon took a sip of hot coffee and continued. "But dogs that do not bark often bite very hard, Dr. Moore."

They met in the hospital cafeteria before the lunch. William had been sitting there for a while and Dixon was coming back from a badminton match. Strangely, according to Dixon, he began to like that girly sport.

"Making a colonel come down here… Geez the guy cant be a random soldier." William nodded and took a sip. His glass was nearly empty. "You said Beck was a member of a special task force 22, right? What is special about these people anyway? "

" Task force 22 is the home of hardcore veteran and they are commanded by the toughest bastard of the US Army, Hart Sayer. A very formidable force back in Iraq"

William grinned "Someday you have to tell me the legend about him, because this morning I saw nothing but an fancy officer and a heavy smoker. Do you know every cigarette of his costs five dollars? Have you ever seen anyone pay five dollars for a cigarette? "

The Marine stared at William as if he had just committed a sacrament.

"No way!" He said "You must be wrong, Dr. Moore."

"Hell no, how could I be wrong? He showed me those cigarettes and said they were wrapped in Alexandria right in front of me. "

"Hart doesn't smoke," Dixon insisted. "Never smoked a cigarette in his life. I still remember the time when he whipped up a Captain because he dared to smoke in the commander's tent. "

William raised his eyebrows in surprise and just before he could say anything, he heared the familiar sound of the DW channel's daily news on the small TV at the food serving counter.

"The _news just arrived, the pedestrian just spotted a car falling down the ridge in Wettenburg, sixty miles west of Stuggart. The initial report showed that there were three people in the car, two medical workers and a man wearing American military uniform. According to witnesses present at the scene, all three died. Police are conducting investigations and local authority contact with relevant parties including the US military to determine the identity of the bodies. We will come back with more information on the program at 8 o'clock."_


	14. Kayle VI

_Bang ... Bang ... Bang ... Bang ... Bang ... Bang ... Bang ... Bang ..._

Eight 9mm bullets tore the wind to find their way to the target about 20 meters away. The red painted metal steles would ring out_ "pong" _every time they got hit and with every pong, the surviving chance of the person behind the trigger would increases greatly.

And if you consider those criteria, the gunner was just as good as dead. Kayle didn't hear a Pong after eight shots.

"What the hell are you doing, Mark?" Sergeant Gunny's roar were so loud and horrible that made the pistol slipped off from Mark's hands and fell to the ground. "Holy Mother of God, you brainless piece of shit! Pick it up now! Pick it up you idiot! "

Gunny was a average height man and who some might call him short behind his back but his deep eyebrows, bald head and fiery personality made him taller than anyone on the shooting rage.

"I'm sorry."

The young man named Mark said with his head down and looked pathetic in every possible way and it was like pouring oil into the fire to the man like Gunny. The Sergean furiously shouted at him.

"DON'T. EVER. SORRY. TO. ME." He stressed on every single word "you had to hit all five targets next time or else I would kick your butt until the two of your ball drop out. Is it clear? "The small man turned to the terrified crowd behind him and shouted" Next!"

The next candidate stepped up and looked unimpressive. Loyde was an entomologist with weak arms like rod beetles and glasses so thick that it look like two bottle bottoms.

"Look at what they give me." Gunny shook his head in disapointment then look at Loyde from head to toe. " What do you have every day, boy? Air and water? "

"I have breakfast with eggs and sausages, Sergeant Gunny." The entomologist smiled and replied, "I have lunch with raspberries and some egg rolls, but dinner….."

"That's a rhetorical question, you fucking idiot!" The Sergeant roared, his face reddened. "You will eat your shit for dinner if you fail to hit your target. Now pick up the gun, on your position, and ready to shoot as I instruct. Quick."

_Bang, Pong ... . Bang, Pong ... Bang ... Bang, Pong ... Bang ... . Bang, Pong ...Bang, Pong_

6 on 8 and Kayle had to pinch her face to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"He is pretty good, isnt he" Emerson smiled wryly and turned to Hart. "It's not bad for the first time to shoot like that."

"It is outstanding." The Colonel said cheerfully. This morning he wore a black trench coat and a bowler hat instead of a military uniform. For some reason he looked happier than usual "I really want to see how well he does with the M4."

Kayle immediately threw him a Are- you– fucking– serious look but said nothing . Hart outranked her, and if what they said about him was true, he was also famous for not liking other people criticizing him

The three of them stood under the roof of a makeshift shooting range - Hart simply let the bulldozer scoop up a pile of dirt as bullet trap wall and use scrap metal as shooting targets - witnessing an army of secretary, geologist, biologist, linguist and driver demonstrate their skill on firearms.

This was what the Colonel did after his demand for a reduction on the number of civilian staff in the convoy was denied by the U.S State Department. Washington emphasized that the delegation's negotiating function could only be guaranteed with the number of twenty-two staff member and when Hart sniffed that they would have the opportunity to negotiate with worms if they went to the Special Region with twenty-two bags of meat, a heated argument broke out on the phone.

Kayle was not sure who was genius behind this idiotic plan or how Hart convinced Dominic to bring his people to Shino to attend the course he called "Survival training" but she knew it would not have a good ending. Certainly Emerson had a role to play here, but whenever she asked him about it, her lovely gray-haired uncle just smiled to her and replied:

_"You know me better than anyone, right Katty?"_

"We will pick people with highest scores today then put them together into a group for advanced training with rifle, tatical shooting and teamwork." Hart said, "The rest will continue to be guided by Gunny in handgun and self-defend technique. I want you to make sure that they wont blow our men's head or their head off on the mission. "

"Some people will never get any better." The grey-headed man politely pointed out, "I'm sure Gunny will do his best but don't expect too much, Hart."

"Well, some people isnt born to be soldiers." He shugged his shoulder. "But I have high hope on the number 10." Then he turned to Kayle and ordered "You will train advanced techniques for the group, Wilson."

"May I know the reason why, Colonel?"

"Reason?" Hart laughed brightly. "Because I see you barely lift your fingers these day, because I hate you and because I think you will be more comfortable with your own people, dont you agree?"

Kayle did not fully understand the meaning of the last sentence. "With all due respect, these people will not become soldier for a few weeks, Colonel"

"That's right! They will not" The old Colonel replied, "But they will become something better than now. After Gunny finished recruiting people for the group, you can start right away. "

Hart Sayer handed everything back to his deputy and walked back to the main building. He said there was a tactical meeting with Jeremy and because Kayle wasnt an official member of the security team, she was exempted from participating.

"Can't your boss be more serious?" Kayle said irritably. "This is no joke."

" Unfortunate for you, he is completely serious." Emerson smiled. "And I think Hart is quite right on the matter"

She smirked "Don't tell me this is your idea."

"It's Hart's, but I agree that these people must be well prepared before going to the Special Region. Honestly, Kayle. How long do you think Jeremy and his men will hold out after watching the video they reccored in Ginza? "

_It is best for them to pray that the delegation will not get caught in middle of the fight. _As a member of Specter, Kayle thought she knew what the battlefield looked like, thought that nothing in the world could surprise her anymore, but that was just before Hart showed her the video of the battle at the battle of Ginza. The enemy didnt have a concept of benevolent or fear, they rushed towards the civilian and the muzzle of Japanese troops like madmen. Bullets do not make them falter and death seemed more attractive than life.

In a video from a souvenir shop's camera, she witnessed a Japanese policeman standing against eight opponents with his pistol in desperation. He shot down three men who rushed up to him but wasn't fast enough for the fourth. The red-haired warrior uses his shield to knock the policeman to the ground and collects them until his gut comes out of his abdomen. All over central Tokyo was full of such horrific scenes. On the pedestrian street, armored horsemen stabbed cut down people trying to flee with their spears and pushed survivor into shopping malls, where Empire's infantry would do the the rest of the bloody job with short swords, axes and rope.

If this was what had happened in the world thousands of years ago, Kayle found herself s very lucky when she was born during the time of the automatic rifle and Kevlar vest.

And next came the dragons.

Big, fierce creatures stepped out from the legend and each time she closed their eyes, the former deputy commander of Specter heard the sound of wings flapping in the dark. She had no idea on how Jeremy and Hart planned to deal with this type enemy because the JSDF reported that they had to use anti-aircraft guns to shoot them down.

"You have help us solve the supply problem." He encouraged her. "And I believe you will do well this time, considering that you've trained Aslan militants back in the day."

Kayle disagreed. First, those guys volunteered to fight. Maybe it was for money, for revenge or for some ridiculous reason, but they basically knew what they were into and willing to take the risk. She couldn't say the same thing to twenty people in front of her and that was why Kayle thought this whole idea was a bad joke. It was true that any idiot could shoot a gun but very few people have mental power and the will to use it.

Secondly, if Emerson really know what happened to her lions (In Arabic, Aslan mean Lion) , then he would not bring it up as comparison.

About eleven o'clock in the afternoon, Grumpy Sergeant Gunny had completed his job of separating the bad ones from the worse. Kayle has four students to teach for the coming days. Geologist Howard Craig, tall and bulky like Rudy. Ambassador's personal chauffeur, Daniel Crossway with smooth brown hair and pretty face like a movie actor, Loyde Uzman, and the last one which was a surprise , Celie Gagnier, the only candidate who hit all eight shot.

"I thought you were Liberal. "

Kayle whispered into Celie's ear when they were on their way back to the cafeteria during recess. Gunny did not like this and she was forced to use the rank on her shoulder to set his reluctant students free, at least for the next thirty minutes.

"Yes, I am" The secretary replied, "What's wrong with it, Major?"

"Just Kayle please" She told her "It's my experience tell me that Liberal and firearms don't go alongside with each other. I just talked to Gunny and he said that you didn't hit the target with mere luck. "

"I used to be a member of a local gun club since high school, of course my father didn't know it about it." Celie said. "I could just be a silly Savannah girl, Kayle, but I'm not stupid. I dont think the world is always full strawberries and castle made of . Sometimes we need to sit down and talk in the garden, sometimes we need to fight on battlefields but I would rather be a warrior in peacetime than be a gardener in wartime. "

"You should have been the one joined the army, not me." Kayle laughed awkwardly at her early maturity "You can't imagine what I thought at that age. But you are different, you would become a good sold - "

Kayle paused. She should not say such things, especially during this time.

"Become what?"

The major shook her head violently:

"Nothing. Don't mind it. "

After lunch break with hot soup, biscuits and coffee, they returned to the shooting range. The weather was a little warmer with the sun was on their head but the surrounding background was still same gray that they got since the morning. The meteorological station predicts that it will be a cloudy day with sudden hail, so it was possible that this half-ass army would have to continue their training inside. Sergeant Gunny was a very stubborn person but hail was probably his limit but in case it wasn't , Kayle would use her rank again.

"You and your group are free to use the shooting range, Major" Gunny said. "I have to teach my monkeys the basic posture."

"You did that all morning, Sergeant."

"And those idiots held a gun like holding a damn coc-" He stopped right there because he suddenly remembered that she didn't have that thing between her legs either. "Sorry, Major, it's just this job that makes me crazy. The targets are just about twenty meters away, but that Mark guy couldn't hit a single one. I cant believe such man exist and I have to train them."

"Please be easy on them, Gunny. These people are not us. "

Kayle glanced at the miserable people standing timidly behind the sergeant. Diana, the linguist who had tears in her eyes, had only one pong and suddenly became Gunny's favorite target for bullying all morning. With her big glasses, her freckled cheeks and faded clothes that had been out of fashion for a decade, Diana probaly thought the nightmare of high school was a thing of the past but Gunny had proven to the nerd herself how wrong she was. Norton gasped through his fat neck, one more push-ups exercise they had to carry the fat man to the hospital with a helicopter. Kayle didn't think Norton would fit in the Humvee while the embassy's passenger car was too damn slow.

"I promised the Colonel that there would be at least ten people qualified to use weapons." The Sergeant declared with a determined gaze, almost fanatic. "And it will be ten, certainly, no more and no less."

With just that much, Kayle knew she couldn't do much but pray.

The Major returned to his group. Howard, Daniel, Lindon, Celie sat in a line facing the barrier wall and in front of them was a 756 mm long, 2.8 kg in weight object, constructed from alloy, aluminum and hard plastic.

"This is an M4 carbine." Kayle picked up the gun and held it up to her chest. "The favorite weapon of many U.S soldier and me too. Lightweight, convenient, using 5.56 cartridge in semi-automatic and automatic mode. There are many M4 versions as well as guns that copy its design, but they are not fundamentally different. "

Kayle's eyes slid over each practitioner. "Among you guys, who knows this gun?"

Three arms raised except for Loyde. Kayle nodded in satisfation and asked:

"So who has used it before? I mean the AR-15, civilian version of its "

No arm was raised.

"I'll show you."

Kayle approached the table next to the firing position, ten magazines which were prepared in advance were neatly placed on a rough wooden table. Kayle picked up a magazine and put it in the magwell.

"All guns operate on the general process. First switch the safety off then pull back charging handle. "She pulled the cocking handle backwards, her cheek pressed against the stock, her eyes fixed on the iron sight." Next is to select your target and pull the trigger. "

Thirty bullets left the barrel within ten seconds. Kayle selects four targets from low to high 20m, 50m, 100m, 150m and fast fire three-shot on each target. She then switched to the nearest stele on the firing range, firing two shots accurately at the head before switching the gun to automatic mode and raining all the remaining bullets in the mag into the body part of it.

Kayle's whole body shook with excitement. The feeling of the recoile hitting her shoulder after every shot and the burning sulfur smell was impeccable. She used to love them and forever. Kayle could hate the CIA and Specter, cursing America, the army and its stupid wars but swear to God, she loved this feeling, this taste, this moment. In an instant, everything suddenly returned to its rightful place, no more grumbling of the old colonel, no more Patt's hideous stare or the sniff of the Jackal clinging to her mind, only Kayle "Sheppard" Wilson and the job she did best.

Kayle put the gun back to safety, took a deep breath and waited for the excitement to pass.

"That's how to use an M4." Kayle said, "Is there any question?"

Loyde's sick hand raised up. "Did you say M4 was U.S soldier favorite weapon?"

Kayle nodded. "Yes. Am I wrong?"

"But the History Channel said that their favorite weapon is the Garand "

_Is Hart planning to handle a gun to this guy? _Kayle really did not understand how he was able to pass the preliminarie. Yes, it was true that some was luckier than others but no one could match his luck back then.

"We'll talk about this later, Loyde." Kayle ignored the stupid question. "Now each of you will have a try with the gun. Celie, you're the first one. "

Although she was good with handguns, the secretary performed quite badly with rifles, mainly because Celie could not control the recoil of the M4 with her slender body. The girl was small and could only weight around 130 pounds at best. Loyde was even worse. Every time he pulled the trigger, she was just afraid that his thin shoulders would break into piecies.

Howard was a little better. Geologists know how to control recoil and his shots were relatively accurate, though still fumbling for standing in the wrong posture. The tall man smiled when he was praised by Kayle and proudly acknowledged that he had a Garand left by his grandfather back home.

"You know, its iron sight looks exactly like the Garand's, so I'm quite comfortable."

'Really?"

Kayle hadnt fired a Garand before. Although a professional soldier and the state of Virginia were soft on gun possession, her father only kept two hunting rifles and a few handguns in the house.

"I'm not mistaken. They are like twins. "He pulled the trigger again, the bullet left the barrel and flew straight into the target at a hundred yards. The bearded man whimpered and said, "See,."

If Howard was an improvement, Daniel Crossway was the embodiment of perfection. The undercut hairstyle was very suitable for the split chin and high cheekbones. His body was as beautiful as the face. She could see plenty muscles hidding beneath the mustard colored shirt and mink coat. However, the eyes were the main focus today. They looked like two clear, melancholy and mysterious lakes. It was so tempting that she had a feeling that it was inviting her to come and reveal its secrets.

"Am I doing it correctly, Miss Wilson?"

The handsome man asked her, a small smoke rose from the hot barrel of the M4.

"Yeah ... Good job, I suppose"

Kayle made the assessment for granted because she was actually sinking in that lake for about half a minute.

"Really?" Daniel stared at her in disbelief. "I don't think I have that many hit."

"That's true but it's… alsp good ... I mean ..."

_What the hell are you talking about, Kayle Wilson? _She could hear Celie's giggles behind her while Howard and Loyde stood there with a bewildered look. _I have to find a way to get out of this or I would embarrass myself in front of everyone._

"That is all for now, ladies and gentlement. Next, I will show you how to assemble and clean every parts of the gun. "After a while of thinking, the former member of Specter, thought that this was the best option she had. She called out loudly "Sergeant!"

With the precision of a machine, Gunny immediately stopped the indignation of the poor Mark and turned around. The entire sergeant's body stiffened, his voice was full of pride:

"Yes, Major."

"I need three M4. Where can I find them?"

Kayle doesn't explain much about her intentions and people like Gunny was definitely not going to ask them. The commissioned officers seem to be a hybrid of a bulldog dog and a human, they understand the chain of commands and know how to lead but never question why they should bite.

"It will be done, Major." He said and scorn at Mark . "Run up to the armory and bring back three M4."

"I ... what ... sergeant?" He winced. "But ... I don't know the way."

Gunny smiled wryly and leaned forward, his voice ws suddenly softer but also razor sharp. "If I remember correctly, your surname is Reed right? An last name that cant be more American. It would be rude of me but I have to ask this. Do you speak English, Mr. Reed? "

"What?"

Kayle could see that the storm was appearing at the distance and unfortunately for Mark that she was absolutely right. Gunny roared to the top of his lung:

"English, stupid donkey. Use it to read the road signs and if you could even do that then you offically admit that you're not an American. Believe me, you would regret it for sure. Perhaps you did not know, but this place was owned by the United States Army. "Gunny touched the Colt 45 on his belt." And I had the authority to shoot you in the head for illegal trespassing. "

Although she really felt sorry for Mark, Kayle couldn't help laughing at the scene when he had to run for his life because he thought those words were true. Five minutes later, Mark returned. The man looked terrible, trying to catch his breath while holding two M4 in his hands and another with a strap dangling from his neck.

Kayle thanked him gently and motioned Loyde, Howard and Celie to pick up their guns while she would use Daniel's M4 to instruct them first. It wasn't difficult to assemble or dissemble a gun honestly. Usually patience plus a little practice would do but it seems not to betrue for entomologists. No matter how much she taught, Loyde couldn't remember the correct order of the parts in the bolt chamber.

"Hey, if you make a mistake again, I will let Gunny be your instructor." Kayle hoped it would work because she really did not. "Do you want that?"

Loyde looked up at Norton, the big fat man who was struggling to push with one of Gunny's legs on his back and shuddered:

"No, Miss Wilson. I don't want to. "

After that, Loyde's memory improved even though it was still a long way to go. Daniel and Howard both assembled their guns while having a friendly conversation. The geologist explained to Daniel how minerals like iron and copper were formed in the ground and for some reason she did not understand, the handsome guy showed great interest in the boring story. that. Celie sits in her own corner and silently did the task with great determination. She tried to dissamble M4 and put every parts back as quickly as possible.

"What are you doing?" Kayle asked her.

"I don't do well in the shooting section so I will use this part to compensate."

"This is not a contest." She sighed

"To me it is." Celie pulled the bolt carrier and charging handle out of the gun in a masterful manner. "So when are you guys going to eat? I know a pretty good place on Fukuoka Street "

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Celie" Kayle said softly.

Celie nodded. "Why not? More than a week we will be in Special Region, who knows what happens out there. This may be the last chance. "

_And there I spent a whole day to avoid saying bad things._ "Why are you so excited all of a sudden?"

"Because I like love stories like most women in the world. You should accept the invitation if Daniel made the move unless you still loved your boyfriend. You don't have a boyfriend right? "

_In a way, I used to have. _But was it really love or it was just sympathy between the two souls, an admiration of a girl for an older boy? Kayle didn't know but she always reserved a place for that man in her heart. Previously, right now and perhaps until the last day of life.

"What's the name of that restaurant?"

"Bianca, a hotel with a restaurant on the ground floor."

It would cost a lot of money for sure but fortunately she would not have to pay for anything. They were right to say that in the end, a woman who went away with a broken heart but the man just went broke.

The first training ended at 4:00 pm, the practitioners disbanded under Gunny's orders and rummaged away together on the small dirt road leading to the top of Shino Hill, where the car was waiting to take them back to Tokyo. Gunny and Kayle lingered behind for a while. The sergeant wanted to talk to her about the training program tomorrow but he did not know Major Kayle Wilson did not hear a word he said. In the head of the girl right now, she was still busy thinking of the flickering candlelight, a wine-cooked fillet, soft lip that love to be kissed and Daniel's tanned arms.

The Major walked down the empty road, yellow leaves rustling at her feet. She had thought of the ideal menu for dinner. _Don't start with oysters_, she thought. Salads were much more interesting and for a person like Daniel, tenderloin beef was the most suitable choice for the main dish. Kayle wasn't sure why she knows his mind but now was not the time to think about it. Situations like this one often demanded more premonition than logic.

Near the end of the road, she saw four of her students chattering under a leafless tree. In the thin fog and the light of the day was dying off, Celie stood next to Loyde, her hands wrapped around an M4 like holding a baby in her lap, Loyde unconsciously carrying his gun on his shoulders and Howard and Daniel ...

The former Specter member froze, her face turned pale as if she had seen ghosts.

Howard and Daniel's barrels pointed to the ground, the body of their gun pressed against the chests, the stock leaned against the dominant shoulder at a 45-degree angle, fingers on the trigger guard.

.

* * *

To reach Task force 22's base on Shino Hill, one has to go through three different sections. First they had to cross the fields of cabbage and purple sweet potatoes, then came the road running through the sparse forest and final section was a two-lane road that hung on the limestone ridge.

The first time she went up here with Emerson, Kayle had realized the strange desolation of the surrounding landscape. There were no cars on the road except for their cars, there was no house outside the abandoned mansion on the hill, and there was no one there but her and the Lieutenant Colonel.

Somehow Kayle felt like this twenty kilometer long road was built specifically for that old mansion. Speaking of which, Although something like that was also possible, the question was who was both rich and ready to throw money out of window? Buying such big piece land in an expensive country like Japan was not a simple matter, not to mention the constructing a road and a huge mansion then abandoned them for ten years.

"Do you know who the former owner of the mansion on the hill is, Jeremy?"

Kayle asked her private driver and unsufferable companion this afternoon. The jackal came to Kayle when she was about to take the coach to Tokyo. He said Colonel Hart wanted her and him to go to the US. East Asian HQ to check the quality of the Humvees before they were delivered to the delegation tomorrow. Kayle abided by this order immediately even though she had to go with the nasty Jeremy on a moldy Mercedes. She had never had a chance to come to the Headquarters ever since she transferred to Japan and this was a rare chance on busy days like this. Furthermore, she was currently in no mood to be around near two liars Howard and Daniel, especially Daniel. Howard simply concealed his identity, but that handsome prick Daniel was ten times worse than his comrades.

He betrayed her, he ruined the romantic dinner at Bianca and Kayle would never forgive him for it.

Thinking about the past at the shooting range only made Kayle feel more disappointed with herself. She easily got tricked by his lovely eyes, smiles and friendliness and if not for that random moment, she would be able to find out who he really was. Either the two of them were so good at acting so well or Kayle had to accept that her judgment had a problem since leaving Specter. In the past Kayle could detect a bomb under the Burqa only thanks to intuition but now even Daniel wear a nametag on his chest, she wouldn't know he had crawl out from some hole at Langley.

"I don't know." Jeremy answered behind the wheel, his eyes still focusing on the road ahead. "Only hear that he was some big guy in japanese industry who went bankrupt and hanged himself long ago. An aviation entrepreneur they said "

_Could it be Shibafu 's boss? _Ironically, the Air Force took over the airport while the Army took over the house and it would be no more ridiculous if the headquarters of the East Asian Headquarters were also located on the estate of the ill-fated man . Kayle could imagine the headline, "The US Army: scavengers of the world" on newspaper tomorrow if it was unfortunately revealed to the public.

"I heard people say that the former owner of Shibafu airport also hangs itself on a tree. Is it the same person? "

"I'm not sure about the airport." He played the shoulder. "But it is true that the owner of the hanged himself on a tree at the mansion. To be more precise, that was the tree next to Hart's window."

"Does he not know that?"

If it was Kayle, she would move her room to another place. No! She would move the entire base to another place too. Just thinking of seting foot into the house where someone had hung himself alone was enough to scare the shit out of her, let alone living in it.

"Knowing or not isnt a problem for Hart. You know what he like right "Jeremy turned to look at her, chuckling." Don't tell me you're scared of ghosts, Wilson "

"Why do you think I say I'm afraid of ghosts. Don't forget I was a ghost too "

"Really? In my opinion, you was not like a ghost at all. You doesn't look like him at all, Wilson. "

"Him?"

"Your commander, as I remember, the guy's name was Lamb." Jeremy replied. "A strange name for a man but I guess that might be just a nickname, right? None will be stupid enough to name his son Lambert."

The best warrior of Specter, the mind behind every operation, Leader of the Flock. CIA considered him an irreplaceable asset, soldiers under his command were inspired by him and enemies are terrified every time they hear sheep crying in the night. But for Kayle, he is more than that. Lamb was a friend, a comrade, a teacher, and the reason she tried to survive.

"You know Lamb?"

"Well, cant say know him. I have met him a few times in Kabul." Jeremy said, his voice was like being carried away. "A scary guy and I really pity those who confront him in battle. But what makes me wonder is how could such a person like that let you be second in command? That's just . "

"I've never seen myself fight." Kayle felt truly insulted. "I would show you If you like it. Just choose any fucking day ! I want to see if you could do anything else but bark."

If she wasn't sitting in a car on the middle of the mountain side, the hero's letter would take place right now despite the high possibility that Kayle knew she would be the one getting beaten hard. It was rumored that the Jackal had found himself bar fight against three member of SEAL and came out victorious without a scratch and if it was true, there was no way Kayle could win a fist fight against this bastard.

However, that was no longer important. She had endured the spy's sarcasm as part of her job, ignoring Hart's suppression because he was just trying to do his job, but who was this asshole thought he was to insult her? To be fair, Kayle was hated because she used to work for Langley but no one liked him either. He was like her, both outcasts and black sheep in their own flock. But according to his opinion, even among those who got pushed to the edge of the village existed a difference.

"Thank you for your kindness but I have seen enough, dear" He laughed brightly. "In the afternoon, you missed six shots and took a whole day to realize that those two were sent by Langley. Howard and your dear Dan..Daniel, am I right? The one capture your heart must be Daniel because I don't think you are bearded type . "

Holy shit!

He watched her all day. But how could he do it when he was at meeting with Hart? He couldn't unless ... Unless there was no meeting here. This whole "Survival training" was just a screenplay for Hart to lure these men out. Now she knew why he said those confusing words at the shooting range.

_Damn you, Hart! Damn you, you old bastard !_

"Why don't you tell me?" She snapped, "I can help."

"First you are very badly acting." The jackal replied coldly, "Secondly, we don't trust you."

Kayle had repeated many times the chorus of "They are not my friends", but until now her attempt was like the waves broke on rocky shore. There was no way to make these guys believe her and wash away the CIA's brand on her forehead.

"How did you know there were rats in the house?"

"Luck I guess, it was just when I was reading the profile then Howard's face appeared on the paper." Jeremy said straight away. "I met him when he was still working for Blackwater. That bastard has grown his beard to hide the scar caused by the incision left under his chin. Of course he have to, a biologist cannot have that scar. "

"Geology." Kayle corrected "But what about Daniel?"

"I don't know who he is." The Wild Dog's face darkened. "And he made me uncomfortable. Howard is a foolish guy, but his partner is different. People like Daniel are the most dangerous killer you know, so don't let his appearance fool you. "

Unfortunately, he had done it it. If thing went as planned, Kayle would be lying naked next to him in a hotel room in Tokyo. A prospect could be so bad, she thought shyly. Even though she was still angry, part in her was willing to forgive him. Maybe it was due to the weakness of women before beauty and to be fair, that guy was just a soldier who followed the order of his superior. Beside it was not uncommon for the CIA installed a bit of "Muscle" for Pat to order around. If there was something strange here, it must be why there are only two people and not ten.

Even Jeremy realized this.

"At first Hart thought that half of the delegation was CIA agents and you was nothing but an accomplice to them. However, after the incident at the shooting range, we now know that there are only two in our rank and you are truly innocent. And now Hart was frantic because he didn't know where the rest of them were. Although Emerson seem, the old man still didn't believe the CIA just installed two men into the delegation and they even weren't members of Specter."

"If Daniel or Howard were of team Charlie then even I don't know who they are ." Kayle said, "Most of Charlie 's members are in Afghanistan and I mostly operated in Iraq."

"How many teams do you have?"

"Three." Kayle replied, "In alphabetical order, Apple, Bulter, Charlie."

Apple was under Kayle for a few years before she left the position to Carrick and became as vice commander of the Bulter, Roland's unit. Charlie's captain was usually Fisher, but sometimes Roland flies over and takes leadership for a while.

"The majority of soldiers in Apple and Bulter except me if not killed or injured are prosecuted." Her mouth was bitter. "Charlie is the only team remain intact after 2014 so if you really think that there are Specter member in Japan, those people must belong to Charlie. "

Roland did not allow Kayle to get involved in torture and interrogation and thus she avoided shameful trails. Perhaps he soon knew the outcome, how it would end and so he did what he must to save her, a final act of chivalry for the girl he love. However, Kayle thought her hands also soak in blood like their hands. She had known about those prisons for a long time and didn't do anything to prevent it.

Jeremy suddenly stopped asking question and their journey went on in peace. Maybe he was satisfied with the information for now and decided not to dig deeper or maybe he saw Kayle's discomfort when talking about the past, something she was a little suspicious of. But whatever the reason, Kayle was glad that he would shut up. Although he didn't have the hideous glance Patt had, but his mouth was so toxic that he was ten time worse than Pattrick. The Hammer guy was still a bit afraid of Kayle's rank while the Jackal spit on it.

Jeremy Blackwood slowed the car down when approaching a turn. Onn Kayle's right was a steep limestone cliff, and on the left was a beautiful scenery of sunset. The sun was like a burning red disk hanging above the surface of Tokyo Bay, slowly shedding its red rays on buildings, three-stories houses with gentle canals curling around, making them look like they were covered in a layer of red dust.

"Beautiful"

Kayle puffed her head against the glass, the last light of the day kissed her blond hair lightly. She suddenly found herself in a classic film. The couple had a ride towards the sunset together in the Chevrolet. The woman wore cream-colored dresses , and the man in red tie and white shirt, His gesture was the languidness of a sun-sitting leopard.

But the more beautiful the dream was, the bigger the disapointment would be . Kayle glanced at her companion lightly and sighed heavily. Jeremy's skin was as pale as a corpse and surrounded him, always an atmosphere as dark and grim as a funeral. If one looked closely, the Jackal was not an ugly man, but the angular lines on his face plus the two deep eye sockets made him become thinner and less friendly, while his mouth always spit out the harshest words a women can imagine.

Honestly, Kayle didn't expect someone behind the wheel to be Brad Pitt or Ryan Gosling but after so many things she had endured, she thought she deserved a better man and especially a slightly better car. This Mercedes smells like cat urine mixed with bleach and it was unnaturally old. The interior was made of expensive leather and high class wood. Although they were all old, she couldn't find any scratchs or flakes, as if they were not used for a long time.

"Where did you get this car from, Jeremy?"

Kayle asked but she really didn't want to hear the answer at all.

"The colonel found it when he moved to the mansion on the hill, in the basement he said," he replied. "Rudy and I spent a few days adjusting the pistons-and then driving a few laps around below. Thankfully, the carburetor still works well so we didn't have to throw the car away. People have stopped making parts for this type since 2000. What a shame "

_How appropriate. _A car of the dead man was driven by the driver who looked like a corpse. If it was in a different situation, then Kayle would have laughed to such joke.

"Can't you use a Humvee or Emerson's car?" She reprimanded, "Why on earth you have to use this shit to take me to the HQ"

"Military vehicles of all type are banned in the inner city of Tokyo, and the SUV is the lieutenant's personal property so I don't feel comfortable to use it."

" You don't feel comfortable?" She snapped. "But you feel comfortable using the car of the man hung himself right in his own home? What is wrong with you? "

"I used to wear the robes of those I killed then eat their food when the blood was still wet on the sand." Jeremy answered with amusement. " It didn't borther me before? Why it do now ?"

"I think everyone has their limits."

"There is no limit on the battlefield, Major." He lowered his voice to remind her, "I have learned this lesson from the first days and survived. I advise you to do the same if you intend to extend your life span. "

"But this is not a battlefield." They were in the most secure area on the planet, and those who they would fought against was in another world. "And I'm not you."

He laughed hard, "Really? That is what you are thinking"

When they reached the end of the mountain road, it was twilight. Kayle could see the small forest below. The trees were covered with a green and yellow color standing in a thin mist. The white trunk ,yellow leaf bircht trees lean against the tall oak growing at the end of the forest whose leaves were gradually turning red. A little further south was the small rice fields located close to each other, forming a line seperating the suburbs and hilly areas. Having lived in Georgia as a young girl, where fields of beans and cotton stretched to horizon, Kayle could not help but be surprised at Japan's crampedness. The entire area is just as wide as Stockworth and Stockworth just was a tiny county to begin with.

"When that Gate appeared, it was said that Japan had got for itself something more precious than gold, worth more than diamond." Jeremy seemed to read her mind. "Yes, it's land. Vast land that hasn't been touch or spoiled. Land is the only thing worth to fight and die for because it is the only thing that lasts forever. "

"Now you are talking like Mr.O 'Hara." 2

"I have some Irish blood in my vein, so I understand how important it can be . Believe me, many people have the same thoughts as I do. Japanese not only have to protect their bones before us. There are many other dogs in this cramped alley and they are all very hungry. By the way, have you ever wondered how we are going to get a piece of it for ourselves? "

_Ourselves? Did he mean the U.S?_

Kayle, like most professional soldiers, rarely cared about political issues, but even now she could not be indifferent. Let say that Hart, somehow succeeded in bringing the delegation to Sadera so the ambassador could establish a relationship with Empire then what was the next move in their plan? America's craving for new lands, new market and resources were hard to deny, but no matter what they didd, it could change the fact that the Gate was still on Japanese that went in and out of it still had to be accepted by Tokyo and the White House must be foolish to think that Japanese would let them poured into the Special Region.

But what if there were no plans? That's what Kayle didn't want to think about. She really didn't want to think about the thirty of them going to risk their lives for no reason at all.

The car was going down a short slope, the scenery outside the window gradually slowed down in the creaking sound of the worn father. In contrast to the daredevil fighting style in Afghanistan, Jackal was a very careful driver. He never drove more than thirty miles per hour and always turned on signal lights whenever approaching a turn even though they were the only ones on the road.

But was this too cautious? The speed of the car right now was equal a speed of a bicycle and why are they so close to the barrier? Kayle intend to asked him, but the Jackal had read her mind again:

"There's something ahead."

Kayle looked up and there was something. In the middle of the slope, about a hundred and fifty meters away from them was a dark red object standing in the middle of the path down the hill.

"A car?" Kayle narrowed her eyes and observed. It was certainly not an embassy's car because everyone of them traveled to Shino by bus, not by car. But if it wasn't then who could it be? This was inherently a dead end and people didn't randomly come up here to see sunset.

"Maybe lost tourists." The Mercedes stopped, Jeremy pulled his hand up. "Do you speak Japanese?"

"Enough to say hello. You?"

Jeremy did not answer. He opened the car door and stepped outside, Kayle followed right behind. His footsteps were long and hasty, forcing her to make an effort to keep up.

"If you're afraid of being late, we can call the base to send someone down here" Kayle suggested "This will cost us a lot of time"

"I can handle it."

"You don't even know how bad the it is. How can you be so sure?" This guy always was stubborn. "There have to be someone else on Shino? Rudy, for example. "

"I said I could handle it." He growled. "If you don't like it, just stay in the car."

_I would rather die,_ Kayle could never sit in that Mercede alone. "If you decide so, I can't bear it." She dipped her shoulder. "But if they were going to blame someone, it wouldn't be me."

"Fine, now be quite."

When she came a little closer, Kayle realized two important things. One was that they didn't need to worry about using body language to communicate anymore and the other was that she knew these people. Collena was still the same as when Kayle first met her in Tokyo, gray garter shirt, thigh-high boots, lovely and unexpectedly annoying. Standing next to her was John with a jacket had seen the better day. His face was covered with sweat and there was a wrench on his right hand.

Oh man! He was even more pathetic than the last time, Kayle thought.

Upon seeing them coming, Collena immediately leaped and shouted something but Kayle didn't understand a word.

"You know them, Wilson?"

Kayle looked up at him with a surprised look. How the hell did he know that? She never told anyone about this and Emerson was definitely not the gossiping type.

"The woman greeted you in Gael" he whistled. "It seems they know who you are."

So he did not lie when he told me that he had half of Irish blood in his veins. "I met them in Tokyo, a newly wed couple"

" A newly wed couple?" He gave a smile that made her goosebumps "What a pity."

Kayle snorted, now she understood why he was so eager help them. Jeremy The Jackal, The Horror of the Hindu Kush was just like all other men, easily subdued by beauty. This made Kayle felt both disappointed and jealous. It was true that Collena was pretty, but in that perspective, Kayle

"Oh my God, Kayle! I was so happy to see you, we were going up the hill and this miserable car suddenly stopped on its track. See, I told John many times that a new car is much better but he didn't listen. And now he even want to fix it. Fix? Fix what? this junk belong to landfills? He didn't even know where to start and it was getting dark. Then he said we had to spend the night here."

As expected, the woman immediately jumped into her and hugged her so tight that she almost suffocate.

"No! I won't stay in a place like this. "She said in tears." Please help us, please, Kayle. "

"Okay, calm down, Collena." The major gently pushed the woman away. "My friend will look over it."

"Your friend?" Collena now noticed the existence of a man standing behind her. "Who is he?" She whispered.

"He is ..."

"Let me introduce myself, I am Jeremy Underwood, Captain of the United States Army." He stepped up and remove his cap "It is an honor to meet a beautiful woman like you today, Mrs… Collena right? "

Jeremy held out his hand to Irish woman. It was not a handshake because his gesture was more like picking up a flower in the garden.

"Captain?" Collena's cheeks turned dream of being Military man and prince Charming came true in one day "Where have you been in my life so far?"

"Far away" A wry smile appeared on his grim face and it made her goosebumps "In places you had never heard of."

In her astonishment, the couple continued the flirting with kisses given by both side on the cheeks. And it was even more surprised when John did not have any reaction, even the smallest, to the fact that Collena was being taking from his hand by another man. The little man just stood there laughing and laughing when Jeremy kissed his wife's cheek and happily told her about the condition of the car.

"When we was in the middle of the slope, the engine suddenly let out a strange noise and then stopped eventually. Strange, when I rent it, I didn't see any flaw. Refining gasoline, pipes, cylinders are in perfect condition. The car rental owner is a polite and honest man so I don't think he lied when he said this was the best Toyota in the store. I can't believe it. I changed the oil myself and drove few lap to make sure there would be no problem. Indeed, there was no problem at that time. "

John shook his head dejectedly. "I have to compensate for it anyway. The contract is very clear on that. But o you think I can convince them that this is not my fault? You see, this is definitely not my doing. "

_What is wrong with these guys? _Is it normal for a husband to talk about compensation while his wife was falling into another man's arms? It was true that the scary appearance of the Jackal could easily erodes the courage of any man, especially with a man who was both short and fat like John, but that couldn't justify this despicable cowardice. Even Jackal was not himself anymore. He almost turned into another person within minutes. He laughed more, talked more and shamelessly went on seduced a married woman.

"Jeremy!" Kayle wanted to leave this place as soon as possible "Do you plan to fix that car or not?"

"Of course." He replied dryly and turned to Collena, "Only a few minutes and we will talk, ma'am."

But Jeremy's few minutes quickly went from five to ten, from fifteen to thirty and the sound of wrench which was thrown violently to the ground let her knew that they would not arrive at the East Asia Headquarters on time. The Jackal thought the gas pump had been blocked and demanded it removed but John refused to do so. He thinks the gas pump was still functioning normally and what Jeremy intended to do only made the situation worse. Kayle chuckled at that. If he cared about the wife as he cared for the car, she would have a good tv drama to watch.

"Can you hurry up?" The black-haired woman squirmed. "I want to go to the bathroom, John."

_Lord have mercy._

"Looks like there is a toilet down there, near the forest." John pointed at the foothills. "I remember it was on the left side when we passed by."

It is true that a white object is behind the pine leaves but Kayle couldn't tell what it was clearly at this distance.

"I'm not going down there alone!" Collena exclaimed and turned to look at Kayle ,pleading. "Can you come with me, please?"

Somehow women like to go to the bathroom together. A habit forming on the idea that women need to be tribalist to fight against men or was there a secret that they only dare to share in a private? If it was a secret, she had never had the honor to know and it was absurd that the place that was specialized for people to take off their pants be considered as private.

"Okay." Kayle nodded. "Just in time I'm tired of sitting duck."

The jackal heard that and pulled his head out of the cable. His face was covered with dirt and grease.

"Are you sure about that?"

Kayle was a little surprised by the question but when she remembered his impulsive habits, she gave him a look "If you think I'm afraid of ghosts, you're wrong."

"That's not what I mean."

"Oh, is that so?" Kayle crossed her arms and asked "So what do you mean by that then? Enlighten me, captain. "

He wiped his hand on a greasy rag and laughed wryly. "Nothing, I just don't like having someone compete with me. Beside I must warn you that I have no experience on having it three way."

Kayle didn't understand at first, but when she thought about it again, she let out a grunt "You would never give up, wouldn't you?" She said in disgust. It was clear that he was just trolling her but Kayle couldn't take it as a joke because she knew when it came to sex, men never made a joke.

"Don't worry, Jeremy my dear." Collena came in from somewhere and jokingly said "We are just friends."

And so they went down to Shino Hill in the dim light and the murmuring sound caused by hundreds twenty feet tall trees. Collena held Kayle's hand tightly, shyly and nervous like a girl in her first date. The body of the Irish women smelled of Dior roses while Kayle's clothes had the smell of gunpowder, but that didn't stop the young woman from leaning on her whenever they heard the unknown noises coming out from the forest.

"This place was supposed to be beautiful." She looked up and stared at the swaying trees in the gray sky. "Somehow, John was so excited to get out of the city. He suddenly said he needed some countryside's air, get along with the greenery something. "

It really didn't sound like John at all. The man really did loved the green but that was the color green of the Dollar.

"Maybe your husband think Tokyo is a little crowded to his taste."

"John lived his whole life in Dublin and London but I did not see him complaining about anything like that." Collena's voice was a little annoyed. " We planned to go to Ginza for shopping we have to board the train to Osaka and John insists on not canceling the ticket because the station has no refund policy. "

The Major laughed out loud. "Believe me, your husband does indeed find Tokyo a little crowded."

John Wilson must had a heart attack when he discovered a Coke can in Ginza could cost five dollars. Speaking of money, Kayle still hadn't forgotten what happened at the convenient store. Louie used to laugh and said that it was their father's habit of counting every cooper, but she didn't care. Spending too much money on an item that didn't worth half its true value was a tremendous waste and there was nothing wrong with saving.

_Thanks to the frugality of mine, you are about to have your own restaurant , my dear brother._

Public toilets, though small, was quite clean compared to its remote location. The floor was covered with green tiles and the walls were as white as the virgin flowers. Kayle had to give a compliment to the diligence of Japanese because even in a place like this

The Irish woman hesitantly look around for a while before picking up the bathroom at the end of the row, facing the enamel sink and a dusty mirror. A strange act because if it was Kayle, she would run right into the nearest one for convenience.

"Did they leave the light on all day? I thought Japanese people were very economical. "Colina's Irish sounded awkward in tight spaces." John praised them so much that it hurt my ears. He was like 'do you see the way they use leftovers food to feed the fish 'or' Watch them ride bicycles to save gasoline, that's great. He makes me feel like he is about to leave me to get a Japanese wife for real "

"Nobody turns them on. It's because of the Photodetector. "

"Photod ... what?"

" Photodetector " She repeated patiently. "The sensor will sense the light around it and automatically turn on the light when it's dark. Do you remember the small lights mounted on bicycles? They also work with a similar mechanism but less complicate than this one. "

"Oh!" The woman exclaimed admiringly. "You really are really smart Kayle. No wonder my man likes you that much. "

_My man_ ? Although Colina said that, Kayle didn't think she was referring to her husband.

"You're wrong."

"I'm not mistaken. You could know a lot about shooting and photodetector, but here, in this field, I'm the expert."

This couldn't be. Kayle had been pursued by others before so she knew how it worked and only the idiot would believe the formula "I hate you, I love you" in romantic comedies was real. And more importantly, the Jackal was the most terrible male character that Kayle ever knew.

"Don't misunderstand him. The captain only attacked me because he wanted to test you. A strange tactic but it can't blame him, men are always mysterious in their own way. "

Yet Kayle thought it was only true for women. "How could you be so sure?"

"Well, People like me always know things like that, "Colina replied with absolute confidence." You can think of it as a kind of skill similar to making egg mixes, but some people in my place like to call it the mistletoe's nature, the parasite that stick on the backs of men and drains their money. Do you think so? "

_Colina is a gold digger but at least she is honest._ "It is not my place to ask this but Colina, do you love John?"

"You're more straightforward than most people I met in my life, Kayle, and I thank you for that. The answer is yes but it is not normal love, at least it is not like the thing between her and the Captain. In rural Ireland, the future of people like me has only four walls of kitchens with a husband who stick his nose in cattle or Whiskey all day long. But that was the bright part of the story because when he got tired of both and he would stick his thing between your legs. The life of the peasant woman, they said. John saved me from that tragic fate. In John I saw Paris, New York instead of the swamp next to my house and in me, he saw a real woman instead of a silly old fat girl who would have become his wife. And for that reason we fell in love at first sight in the pub. "

Colina's story is somewhat like her. They both left their old lives and wagered on their fortunes to see the world but unlike her, the Irish woman did not regret her decision.

"That's enough for me, Kayle. Why don't we talk about you and the Jeremy? Listen, men like him are a bit difficult to handle but not impossible. In my experience, they don't like women with hair bun. Don't be sad when I say that your hairstyle looks exactly like my great-grandmother. So serious and boring "

_Is it really that bad? _Kayle touched the bun she liked the most with her hand. _Why didn't I ever heard anyone say anything about it?_

She found herself silly to ask such questions. The men in the military might notice a lot of things on her, but they would never comment on her hair. Annoyed, the Major approached the mirror next to the washbasin to make it clear.

"What kind of style do you think I should have?" Kayle said as she wiped the dust off the glass surface with her palm. "Short would be nice cause military standard wont allow my hair to touch my shoulder."

"Whatever you want, dear Major." The woman answered

_Strange ... When did she know my rank?_

In the mirror of the translucent glass, Kayle saw the bathroom door had been opened and Colina was not in it. The Irish woman now stood right next to her. Her face had the strange, creepy lines of a rotten fruit.

"Colina, why are you ...!"

Kayle's astonishment quickly turned into panic as she felt a sharp pain in her hip.

_Did she just stab me_ ? It was the first thing she thought of and as fast as cutting, Kayle turned to push Colina backwards before pulling back toward the door. Her hand trembled to touch the top of her waist. _No ! there is no blood. But why is it so painful?_

"What the hell are you doing?" Kayle yelled at the woman"What did you do to me?"

The woman did not answer, just smiled and slowly approached Kayle. Her gesture was a compilation of leisure and arrogant of a lion in front of a prey cornered prey.

"Who are you?"

And those were the last words uttered from Kayle's mouth before she realized that her jaw and her left body were stiff like a stone. The former Specter commander lost her balance and fell to the icy floor. The pain had now spread throughout her body and her gut was on fire.

_Anesthetic_ ? Kayle suddenly realized what had just attacked her but it was too late.

Kayle knew she had to do something right away, but her moving body was too weak to help her stand up, let alone to resist Colina. She immediately thought of the Jackal and was about to call for help, but this place was too far from the car and if she was lying and fighting for her survive here, he could have been ...

"Maybe my husband is now done with Captain at the moment." Colina said casually. Her voice was icy and cold and sounded like a person with a flu. "Boris said it half of the dose was enough for you, but in fact, you are tougher than you look. So sad when it come to this, this coat is very expensive and it's also my favorite one. I hate getting it dirty "

After saying that, Colina bent down to pull Kayle to sit up before wrapping her arms around her neck from behind and suddenly squeezed it like a python.

"I must be honest, Kayle. You're a wonderful friend that I ever have "she whispered." But I have my orders so don't blame me. "

Kayle couldn't breathe, couldn't move and couldn't scream. She could only helplessly look at the surrounding landscape fading because of lack of oxygen or because anesthesia began to affect the nervous system.

_Am I going to die? _It seems that was the case, the generosity of death was as dry as the lake on the outskirts of Bagdad that Roland showed her many year ago. _God, I hope you let me see him again. Only once will be enough then you can banish me to any Hell you want to.._

But the moment she was about to achieve her wish, a voice rang out:

"Let go of her!"

Kayle's eyes were too blur so she could only see a black shadow standing at the entrance but his voice was unmistakable.

Jackals were still alive!

"Oh look." Colina loosened her grip on her neck a bit and laughed dryly. "The Prince has come to for his princess."

"Let go of her!" The jackal snapped, the vibrato in his rage was like metal bars colliding. "Or I'll punch a hole in your head."

He has a gun. That's good, at least if Kayle died, this bitch would surely suffer the same fate.

"Where's Boris? Did you kill my husband, Jeremy? "She didn't seem to mind his threat." You surprised me. Boris is not easy to deal with. "

"Let go of Major." He repeated impatiently. "Raise your hands above your head."

"Put down the gun or I'll cut your lover's neck like a pig she is." Colina retorted "Do you want to see her scearm?"

Kayle could see Colina's knife close to her neck but she could not feel the blade as well as the hot blood flowing down to her chest. Kayle knew what Colina was up to. She will use her as a human shield to escape from here or to kill Jeremy before killing her too.

_Don't listen tp her, Jerry! Shoot her and ignore me. _She wanted to scream at him but could not do it.

"It was simple, handsome. Throwing that gun aside and Major will live. "Colina said with a fake sweetness." I bet you shot very well, but let don't bet it on your lover's life. "

_Don't do that._

A haughty smile flashed on Jeremy's lips and for some unknown reason, Kayle knew it was for her.

"The situation leave me no other choice. I must do it no matter the cost." He said, "Sorry, Major."

Kayle closed her eyes and what she remembered was a... BAN


	15. Tobias I

**Sorry for late update, i just have too much work to do, too many people to take care of and so little time to write. But here we are, a new chapter with new characters, new story lines and they are not just random character. As always, everyones appeared in my story has a role to play, some would be bigger than the rest but they are never random. If you have any question about this chapter or character, just ask me ^^.**

* * *

**TOBIAS I**

There was a time when people told that he came from Vizima due to heavy accent of the people in the eastern lowlands and the two- horse cart full of furniture of a wandering merchant. However, those who live in bustling markets and rivers ports would tell you that it was not true because he did not buy or sell anything, and if he did bought something, it was mostly flour, timber, coal and dried beef.

And then they were rumored to be a mercenary knight from the East because the black scales armor he worn was often used by nomadic cavalrymen, plus a longsword with a blade so thin that could be mistaken for a rapier was a unique product of Lorencia. But they could not explain why a knight like him had to live in a cart as well as the fact that he had appeared after every few months at the Catfish Wharf then hurrily went away a few days later.

Tobias didn't really care what they talked about until about two months ago, when a bunch of men and women with daggers in their hand and blood in their eyes, rushed to the Vando inn to find him and accused him of kidnapping children to practice some kind of dark arts. Tobias then proved his innocence with four corpses and two hands chop off and since that unpleasant incident, the murmur behind his back also faded away.

Having people afraid of him was beneficial and harmful at the same time . Although Tobias was no longer wary of pickpockets and the thugs cames to pick a fight with him, when he was looking for a place to sleep overnight or a decent meal at Vando, it was a different story.

"You again?" The brothel owner growled behind the counter, his hands were on his hips, his ugly round face grimacing as he saw the knight "What do you want this time?"

If that attitude was translated into the language of civilized people, it means " _Pay and fuck off_ " but Tobias was still patient with him:

"An average meal and a room" He said "Do you have something decent to drink. I don't want the horse piss they serve at the wharf."

"You will have your food and drink, but there's no room for you."

"You just told the man before me and the woman before him that you still have a lot of empty rooms."

"That's the thing between me and them." He spit on the ground. "You son of bitch, do you think I'll let you rent room after you kill four people under my roof?"

"It is self-defense, not murder. The City Watch had concluded they attack me on purpose and i had all the right to defend myself. "He point out." Beside, I don't rent a room for myself. "

Now the old Vando owner noticed the small companion standing next to the knight from Vizima. His thick eyebrows lifted up when he saw the thin shoulders and golden brown curls flickering beneath the old hood.

_A woman?_

No she wasn't. Her physique was too small to be a woman and too big for a child. A girl who just counted her twelve nameday at best but not any dirty and annoying 12-year-old barefoot kids that he saw all the time at this Catfish river port. He could sense that and Tobias as well as when he was in Norstein.

"Who is it?" The shopkeeper asked, "your child?"

"I don't have a wife, how can I have a daughther?" He put a denarii on the counter, then put another one on the top of it, even though it was a little hesitant, "One room and one average meal."

His pea-like eyes skimmed past the two denarii, the brunet and then Tobias.

"Fine. A room for this girl but you have to sleep outside the stables. "He placed the terracotta jar with two cups in front of him. "Take it or fuck off."

The knight nodded and took the wine and served himself a cool beer. "My two horses also need to be fed and cared for."

"Killian will take care of that. The two of you go find a table for yourself, the food will be brought up immediately. "

They chose a place far from the door, a dark and tight conner where they would easily observed those who came in and out of Vando while not many people noticed them. The brown-haired girl took a sip of beer from the cup, before spitting out everything in her mouth onto the wooden floor.

"What is this?" She looked up at him and asked "This isnt wine."

"Beer." He answered.

"Beer?"

"A beverage introduced by the Japanese to the capital residents when they came to Ashuko last year. I had no need for distillation and also quite inexpensive, so every tavern and brothel in the city stores beer in the basement. Although I prefer alcohol, this is not bad stuff for drinking. "

"Japanese ..." She repeated the word in a strange voice, "Have you seen them? What do they look like? "

"A few times before the blockade." He took a small sip, the beer today had the smell of Lia grass, so he felt quite refreshed in his heart. "After the battle of Alnus, people rumored Japanese as big as Gadiot beasts with skin as hard as cold steel and eyes carrying the flame of infernor. Can you imagine how disappointed they were when they found out that those monsters looked like other normal people except small eyes, flattened nose and jet black hair? "

"I can only imagine how foolish it is to not be afraid of the one who defeated the fourteen Imperial legion."

There are still arrogant answers like the first time he met the girl at Norstein City gate. It was a drizzling day, the captain who command the guard at East Gate did not allow him to go through because of the lack of bribe money, and cause miserable misfortune was clinging since he left Sadera, Tobias had nothing left on him except what he could not sell. Having no other option, Tobias had to come to a infamous shark loan named Pharosa to talk about a debt in the south of the city and at that moment, this strange girl from nowhere appeared next to him with only clothes on her back, a pair of oversized shoes for boys and a coat that look more like rag. He was about to wave his hand to chase her away, but the eyes that so blue like the sky on the clearest days made him change his mind.

"I can help you." She said, "You want to go through the gate and you need money."

"I have enough money to buy a ship." Said the Knight "I have enough money to buy a island and become king of it myself, little one."

"I know. But you can't use them, right? "

How the hell she know? Tobias was startled, he slowly put his hand on the hilt of the sword and received an answer with a silver ring falling from her thin hands. The ring has the shape of three salmon swimming into a circle. Although he had no proper education, he had enough knowledge on noble house's sigils and banners to know what it belonged to.

"Take me away from Vizima." She told Tobias as he bent down to pick up the ring, the raindrops falling around making her words sound like a whisper. "Take me out of here and you'll have more than a ring. "

They left Norstein that day and reached the Myre border after a week. Standing on the graves of those who died in the "Last Rape," with the vast grassland of the East Empire in front and the red ridges behind their backs, she gave Tobias the golden bracelet:

"Take me across the sea of grass and you'll have more."

In Valoran, Tobias received an ivory brooch and when they stood under the wall of the port city of Aquaticus was a necklace with sapphire stones. He never wriggled for more money and she was neither generous nor naïve to begin with. One night, when they were still in the East, Tobias almost had a blade cutting thrusting through his neck when he went into a cart to avoid the cold of the steppe. Honestly, he was amazed by that, astounded by her boldness and the fact that during half a month, he didn't know she was carrying weapons.

"Are you going to see Gonzori?"

The knight from Vizima nodded and drank his beer. Then he looked thoughtfully at his companion. "You know his name but do you know who he is?"

"We have a deal." The girl coldly reminded him "We don't ask about each other's stories."

And they really didn't need to do that. For obvious reason, she didn't randomly choose Tobias as her guardian and because of that he also vaguely guesses her identity. Moreover, he was not the talkative type .

"That's right, but we're talking about Gonzori and not about you."

She hesitated slightly at his logic, but then she said softly. "Zarkan Gonzori, one of the gang leader in Ashuko. He is said to be a beastman from Tiga Clan who lost one of his eye when fighting for the empire as a sellsword, seven feet tall, very scary. Do I get it right?"

"Almost" Tobias replied, "Except the scary part. Do not misunderstand me, he is extremely scary but not in the way you imagine. His appearance easily deceives others and that was why Bessara went to Hardy's Hall that soon. "

"I do not understand."

"There were four gangs in Sadera, Gonzori, Medusa, Paramount and Bessara but now there are only three. About a year ago, a meeting was held between the underground bosses to discuss how they was going to deal with people in green. During the meeting Bessara stood up and offered to attack them. Although Paramount and Medusa disagree, that idiot still proceeds. "

"He didn't do it alone." The little girl pointed out, "Gonzori has supported him, right?"

"Yes. And Gonzori himself who warned the Japanese about the attack as well as invited them to establish their base in Ashuko from the beginning. "

He confessed to Tobias with a bottle of Savoleon on hand after the fourth delivery, when the knight had gained enough trust from boss to have a toast with him in private. The wine was warm and sweet like woman's lip, but Zarkan Gonzori's words were cold as ice and , especially when t came to the part where his minions cut Bessara and his family into pieces. Tobias didn't understand why Zarkan told him about it. A boast in drunkenness or was it a kind of intimidation from Gonzori boss? The knight from Vizima was not sure but he knows he should not go to see the beastman without weapon no matter what.

"More reason for you not to come to see such a person."

"I have to keep my promise."

"Many people didn't do that and they still live." The girl said contemptuously, "Don't be so stupid."

Although he was interested in her intelligence, sometimes Tobias just wants to slap her right in the face. Yeah, She must not have been slapped in her life. Unlike the parents of peasant children who give their offsprings much more slaps than bread, the lords never beat theirs. They call it the behavior of the lower class and whatever was put on that shameful list always started with the word "Don't". Strangely, the nobility seemed to be obsessed with showing their differences to those living outside the castle. They ate very sweetly while Tobias's mother put so much salt in the food that he drank the well dried and when he was studying horseshoeing, the lousy son of lord Sanda was trying to cut off the horse's legs.

"Thanks to my outdated belief, you are able to come to this place in one piece. The smart man will steal all the things you had as soon as we left Norstein. The smart guy will tie up the runaway bride of Lord Wallon and lead her in front of him to receive the reward. "

She frowned wryly but said nothing and that was all Tobias needs. He always wondered what did Agula noble lady do in Vizima? Wallon has no granddaughter and his son had been married for a long time.

_Maybe she saw me walking into the castle_ , He supposed so, but why did he never see Wallon's little bride standing next to him? The greed of this old man was no less famous than his habbit of bragging.

"So why don't you do that? You are a criminal. "

"First, I am a knight and not a robber." He smiled wryly. "And the reason I didn't drag you to Wallon is very simple. I hate your big fat husband. "

"We are not married." He said harshly

"Oh I'm wrong. He should be called your fiancé. "

Tobias was about to piss her off a little more but then he saw Mea approching to them with their dinner in her hand. Mea was the name of the most beautiful waitress of Vando, hair as blond as corn and lips that want to be kissed often. She was always smiling when serving him food and even serving his ... other needs.

"Fish with honey and pepper, cheese, bread, vinegar and vegetables" Mea said as she put each dish down on the table "Do you need more beer or something?"

"Another bottle of wine is fine. Can I have some fried onion? "

"When did you like onion?" Asked Mea in surprise " You said you couldn't stand it smell before."

"Not for me, love." Tobias shook his head and glanced at the person sitting next to him.

"Well, Well, Well, look what we got here." The waitress's voice was suddenly annoyed. "Who is it?"

"My customers."

"It looks like the opposite."

"Whatever you want to believe," he said dejectedly. "Get me some onions and I'll talk about it later. Tonight you sleep in a cart. "

"I'm not a prostitute."

She snapped and left. _I'm not a prostitute_ . That's right, she said the same thing when he put three Drechma on the edge of the bed. _And I'm not a snob or a prince. _Tobias then tries to put money into Mea's hands, even calling it a gift to both him and the waitress from the craving.

"Women ..." He cut the bread into four silce with his knife, spread a little of butter on it, before putting it in his mouth with a dark green leaf of spinach. "I never understand them."

The fish didn't have as much pepper as he expected, but the taste of honey was excellent, melting right in the mouth. For an average meal, it was too generous and enjoying simple little things was the leading principle of a wandering knight. Tobias liked the time he was sitting under the smoky celling of Vando with his bread and a beer on the table. Though it was short, at least it was time he can forget the hardship and broken dreams, which was quite rare these days. However, Tobias's companion didn't share same idea with him. Since the dinner was served, she hardly touched any pieces of food.

"What else do you know about me?" He stared at him and asked.

"Let's see." Tobias place the haft- eaten fish on the plate. "You don't like this marriage with Wallon for sure. That was easy cause no one really like that pig and you ran away. I know he gave you the ring, the brooch and the necklace for the wedding gift and that's was everything you could bring along"

Otherwise he would have a bag full of gold and she would have something more beautiful to wear instead of this rag.

"When you get to Agula, you can have whatever you want." He declared, "My father has a lot of money."

"Had" He corrected her "My condolence."

A silence fell upon the girl. She gave him a suspicious look with a bit of shocking as if she couldn't believe that her little secret was exposed by a common sellsword and more importantly, how long did he know ?

"Yes, I know who your father is" He said nonchalantly as the girl gasped. "Don't be surprised. Even in the East, such news couldn't be ignored."

The death of the king of Agula and his sons in the battle of Alnus sparkled the mercenaries. King Harland had no surviving brothers except his greedy cousins and these people obviously dislike each other very much. A civil war was inevitable, they said. When there were too many piglets and too few of tits, things like that happened all the time and civil war to mercenaries was a chance to get rich.

"Your relatives will tear you into pieces. Going there maybe not the best option."

"Not your business." She hissed and turned away. "Just take me to Agula and you will have anything you want."

"It's my business. If you die, who will pay me? Moreover, I mentioned money because we need some money to get out of this city. "

She looked up at him, bewildered. "But…But back there, the soldiers let we through."

"It's because of Gonzori." The soldiers didn't dare touch Tobias, the girl and the cart because behind them were the most ruthless criminal of Ashuko and a big bag of money. "

"Can you borrow Gonzari some money ?" She suggested, "You are his favorite transporter, right?" Surely he will accept if you ask. A deal would be better and if he doesn't agree, we'll ... "

"Do that and we will have our hands and feet chop off before being skined alive" Tobias took a sip of beer and pointed out the foolishness in the plan."That is how they deal with those dare to steal from the Boss."

But Tobias assumed that he would live a little longer before being putting from misery. Gonzari called him "Radd" (it means friend in the Eastern Tiga language) and it wasn't right if he didn't give his radd any favor.

"If I ask him, he will ask questions and believe me, I lie as badly as i fight with the sword. Once Gonzori knows about you, our journey will officially end."

There would be no ransom, Tobias knew that. No matter who that sat his boney ass on the throne of Agula, there was no way he would bring the late king's last child home and if she dies in a ditch at the capital, the better for him. It was bad enough to be seen as kinslayer, so no one wanted to become child murder.

"If you say so" She reluctantly nodded. "But what are you going to do?"

"Maybe Gonzari will want someone to die." As far as he remembers, some of Bessara's men were still there and they had no intention of bowing down to new master. It was going to be bloody and messy. These guys werent random thugs, but Tobias believes in his hands and swords, which was the reason he was still alive today. "Just after a few jobs, I will have enough money."

"But you can die, you idiot." She raised her voice. "We have money here."

"No." Tobias placed the terracotta cup violently on the table. "As long as you're under my protection, you'll have to do what I say. If you don't like it, just go find someone else to take you to Agula. "

His voice was like two metal bars hitting each other, making her tremble a bit. No matter how gritty she was, she was still a child no less.

"Eat, girl." Tobias ordered "No more question."

But she didn't listen to him. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you paid me." He replied, "Now eat."

"No, I have no money and you has already known it from the beginning. What I can give you now are promises. My father died, my brothers also died, I was nobody but a penniless child that countless people wish me dead. You know going with me will lead you to nowhere, but why are you still risking it? "

That was the same thing he asked himself while riding under the starry sky, when he looked down at the muddy water of the Rho River but still he had no answer.

"You really want to know that much?"

"I want answer." She insisted.

"Fine, I will answer that question if you agree to answer my question."

He scowled at him. "I don't have time to play game."

"It's an exchange not a game. A question in exchange for a question. "Tobias said," Or you can consider it as my wages. From now on, I would take no gold or silver except answer "

She suspiciously looked at him then picked up the cup and drank it all, the golden iridescent beer drops flowing from the corners of her mouth down to the lovely small neck. After finishing, the girl wiped her mouth with her palm and said, "You are a strange person. Fine, I agree. "

"Very well." He leaned back against the chair and put his hands on his stomach. "I'm risking because this is a great opportunity for me to fulfill my wishes. Since they place the sword on my shoulder and forced me to take those vows, I have always wanted to do this but never had the chance. "

"Do what?"

He laughed out loud. " Do what a man like me supposed to do. Become the knight in shining armor who save the damsel in distress. Although you are hardly a damsel at your age, that's enough for me. "

A set of mixed emotions from anger to shock respectfully appeared on the face of the exiled princess.

"You ... Are ... kidding me, aren't you?" She pointed her finger at his face, trembling in anger. "Do I look like someone who believes Luke and Constance?"

"It depends, but it's true." He calmly reliped. "And if is not then what is the difference anyway? I promised to take you to Agula and I will definitely do it, in any way I can. Isn't that what you want? "

She was silent, he continued, "Now it's my turn. What is your name? "

"You has already known my name!"

"Not that long ass royal title they called you." Tobias shook his head. "A simple name for us to address each other. I'm getting tired of calling this 'kid' or ' girl' and I'm sure you do too.

"You really are ..." The girl sighed. "Okay, when I was about six or seven years old, the servants called me Lia."

"Very well." Tobias smiled and lifted the beer mug up. "Lia is a beautiful name for a girl."

.

.

* * *

Two strangers entered the Vando inn when Lia finished her grilled fish and fried onion. The man was an old warrior with tanned skin of the Southern islander of Pearl Sea, carrying sword and a invory hilt daggers on his waist. His face exuded an expression of confidence as he looked around the dinning room filled with the smell of smoked sausage and burned fat of the affordable inn. In contrast, the blonde woman who hide her face behind the white hood seemed to be uncomfortable with the atmosphere here.

"Who are they?" Lia asked anxiously as the two strangers looked at where they sat.

"I don't know"

He replied and put his hand on the newly sharpened dagger in the morning. In close quarter combat, a 24-inch blade was the equivalent of an Amonius sword. The old man taught Tobia that many years ago, when he was still a boy with a wooden sword. The lesson was strange and hard, his teacher was usually more drunk than he should be and got angry with him whenever he made mistake. Tobias hated them, the old drunkard and his harsh training program but he coudnt deny their effectiveness.

"I will try to hold them as long as I can" He said to the girl, "As for you, try to run as fast as you can."

"Run? Where to? "Her tone told him it was not a question. She was smart enough to understand that its journey was hopeless in the first place and it was a miracle that she made it to the Capital.

"Just run and look for a place to hide first." He sighed. "There are so many people in the harbor, they can't find you easily. I'll come to you when I'm done here"

Although saying that, Tobias himself knew that he could hardly do it. He suddenly realized who old knight was. Gray of Thrach, they called him, one of the heroes of the Battle of Carenhall and if the rumors about his talent for swordsmanship were true, Tobias only had few chances to get out of here alive.

And there was still the woman who accompanied Gray. Tobias could see the sword hilt carved into the shape the owl's head slightly looming behind the with cloak and according to his hunch, she didn't cary it for fun.

_I can't beat both of them in a fair fight._

But most of the battles he once participated in were unfair and he always knew how to win this sort of fight. The hight and mighty knights were trained to fight with another knight. Thi result of this metality was they often paid too much attention to the enemy's sword and forgetting other equally dangerous threats.

"Take this." He handed the flagon of beer to the girl. "When I give you a signal, throw it at the old man's face, understood?."

Leta looked at him hesitantly for a few seconds but then she nodded, "I understand."

Tobias picked up his cup and slowly drank it, trying to be as natural as possible when the other two approached them. Gray was the target he needs to taken out first if thing went south. The knight was old and the hair was slowly living up to his name, but still his movements were still as cautious and flexible as a leopard, exactly the type of opponent that Tobias wanted to avoided.

"Are you Tobias Pisia, the one who they called the knight from Vizima?" Gray asked him

He smirked, not borther looking up at the old man. "In my village Pisia, people will politely introduce himself first before asking questions."

The woman immediately was insulted by that, her hand clenching on the hilt of her sword. She clearly was not pleased with the attitude of Tobias. Seeing that, Gray raised his hand and put the stop to that.

"Don't ever draw your sword in anger, Beatrice" He reminded the woman "Don't you remember what I have taught ? "

The woman named Beatrice smiled and removed her hand from the sword's hilt. "How can I forget it, Ser. It's just a little hot in here. "

"Then go look for something at the counter to cool it down." Gray suggested, "I will do the talking"

"If you say so"

When Beatrice was gone, Gray sat down on the bench opposite to Tobias. Excitement danced in the old knight's green eyes as he glanced at Leta with the flagon in her hand.

"Well, you supprise me, young man. I didn't expect a person like you to have a female squire. Most knights prefer to train boys. "

"She is not my squire and it is strange for a person like you to say that."

The story about Gray of Thrach taking the position of master of arms at the Imperial palace with more than half of his students were girls was well known. About five years ago, on his first arrival at the Capital, Tobias was told about an order led by the rebellious princess Pina Co Landa. At first, he laughed at this idea and thought the princess was just playing sword for a while before got bored and put her attention on elsewhere, and Gray was a lucky son of bitch when finding such a good place to retired.

"Those girls aren't my squire either." Gray laughed. "Do you think their parents will let their precious offsprings empty my piss pot? I'm simply there to teach the children how to defend themselves. "

"A glorious master of arm then. It's way better than training the peasants in Fallas before putting them to the frontline."

"I admit you are right." He nodded "The gods had favored me, but what is the point of talking about it now? People with royal blood in their veins often have strange way of thinking that men like us would never understand them and the result of that is that some people will receive grace from them while others do not. "

Was that why Leta chose him? He was not a reliable guardian or a prestigious knight to begin with and if it was in terms of swordsmanship or achivement, Tobias had nothing to stand out for.

"You will also receive the grace of her highness too if you do what I say." The knight glanced at Leta and smirked. "Or are you satisfied with what you have?"

Leta was stunted by the old man's words while Tobias muttered and cursed his carlessness. He should have told her to cover her face a long time ago. Even in the filthy clothes, the aura of the ruling class still did not fade away.

"It's none of your business." He growled. "Why are you here , Gray? Speak it out or piss off.

"Easy, man. I didn't come here for a fight" The old knight assured him, "But first, tell her to put the flagon down, would you? This trick is pretty old and it's not very effective either. "

_I have no chance against this man_, Tobias depressed thought when he gestures to Leta to put the flagon on the table. She stared at him and he could see the fear in her blue eyes.

"Put it down." Tobias said, "If Ser Gray wants to harm us, he has done it already."

The old knight shrugged his shoulder "I don't know why you thought I came here to kill this girl but I don't intend to find out. Like you said, its none my bussiness The princess has given me a mission and I will complete it. "

"If your master wants to find mercenaries, I can recommend some people."

Tobias felt uncomfortable with this. Under Pina's command, there were at least a hundred skilled swordsmen, but she had to sent Gray down here to find a mercenary knight. Even if he was not stuck with Leta, he would never get invovle with that family. The emperor was famous for his ruthlessness, Zorzal was a violent dickhead, while his brother Diabo was shady as fuck. There was not much to say about the princess Pina Co Landa other except she was a troublemaker but usually the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"I came here because of your talent."

"My talent? Drinking and fucking? "

"Honesty and discreetness" Gray said, "Admittedly, these are rare talents for a mercenary, but if it wasn't the case, Gonzori would never trust you with his little treasure right?."

Tobias's hand tightens the grip of the dagger. How much did the old man know? He wasn't sure but he thinks he knows who revealed this. "Do you believe in the words of a criminal now, Gray?"

"I believe in his greed. You should have known that better than anyone else, Gonzori is… well a complicated person, some say evil and they maybe right on that but he is also a realist and all he does for one reason only. "

"So do I. Now, be a good dog and go tell your master that I refuse her offer, no matter what it is. "He pointed his finger in annoyance at the wooden door. "Go and leave me in peace."

Honestly, Tobias doubts that the insults he thrown out would have any effect on people like Gray and unfortunately when in such situations, his judgment was always accurate. The old knight still sat in front of him, as strong as a rock:

"The reward will be handsome," he said. "It's so huge you can think of your retirement."

"I am not interested."

"So what should I do to make you interested in my offer?"

He smiled disrespectfully and raised the beer mug up. "Order a good flagon of wine, a nice room and let that brown hair beauty warm my bed for one night then maybe I will be interested."

"YOU LOWLY SCUM"

Immediately, a jug of wine flew straight into his head. Tobias bent down to avoid it, fragments of pottery and wine splashing right above his head. The one who was behind the attempt of murdering him was none other than Beatrice and Tobias swears that in a moment, he saw her eyes were as red as two burning coal.

_Fuck, I thought she was still at the counter_, He quitely cursed as he stood up. _Trouble_!

His trouble came in the shape of a steel blade about 90 inches long, shiny and sharp enough to shave the spider's butt. The people in Vando immediately sticked to the wall when they saw it, some frantically ran out of the tavern when sniffing to see a bloody fight about to take place.

"Beatrice ! What did I say? "Gray stood up and shouted. "Stay where you are."

But the young swordswoman ignored those words and headed towards Tobias, "You can endure the humiliation of him but I cant ! This savage bastard has to pay. "

_Savage_. Two centuries had passed since the last nomadic horde was crushed under the iron heels of Imperial Legions, flattened riverside villages to make way for newly brick-built towns and this was what they received. The scorn and suspicion, regardless of whether it was a noble lord or a farmer's son.

Tobias smirked "By the accent, You are no better than me, Lady. Nym or Khal's Valley I wonder? "

"Beatrice Delannoy of Exter." She replied proudly. "The Delannoy family was noble of Sadera from the Valerian's era before receiving new the titles and lands from Senate for our contribution in the Western Campaign. We don't share the blood with the nomads. "

"Delannoy? Exter? "The mercenary knight was stunned for a few seconds," Are you Rickard Delannoy's daughter? "

"The one who was murdered by the filth like you after he had taken them in?" Beatrice hissed. "Yes, That's my father."

Tobias looked at the woman from head to toe suspiciously. His mind was overwhelmed by the afternoons in the wheat field, the laughter of the river was small, causing him to faint. The color of the hair and face was exactly the same as that of the girl that year, but why did he feel like he was standing in front of a stranger? Moreover, did he change so much that she could no longer recognize it?

"No way ..." Tobias muttered to himself. "You can't be ..."

"What did you just say, savage?" Beatrice asked jubilantly. "I didn't hear your words. Speak up!"

Of course he wouldn't do what she told but Tobias's habit of mocking, taking everything lightly immediately made him regret. "Well, nothing important, just as far as I remember, Valerian's Western Campaign ended in failure and his loyalists were driven to the East by the Senate. A glorious selters, everyone of you "

A terrible thrust was launched at his chest. Beatrice used Window's Guard posture and it was a wise choice in such situation because it would make her thrust faster and more powerful, not to mention utilizing advantages of the long sword. Gray has trained his students well but there were some things that even him could teach.

The knights paid too much attention to their opponent's swords and forgot about other equally dangerous threats.

With surprising calmness, Tobias kicked the table forward with his right foot and the duel quickly ended. Beatric Delannoy was completely surprised by his attack and could do nothing but fall into the trap literally. The table was too old and made of poor quality wood immediately broke due to her weight.

"Bastard." She rose and glowed with hurt pride. "I'll kill you."

However, Tobias's sword was placed on her shoulder first. Compared to the swordswoman's fancy blade, the Tempest was nothing more than a butcher's knife but it still had its own uses, especially when facing opponents wearing only chainmail.

"Yield?" Tobias asked but only received the sound of the gaze that could make hell freeze. "Don't be that stubborn! "

In the past, he also said those words to Ladybug and if the adult version she decided to continue fighting, it should not be a surprise. The only thing that surprised Tobias here was Gray. The old knight just stood still and watched his student get beaten up while he had the opportunity and skill to split him in half.

"Enough, Beatrice," Gray said, and Tobias could feel the dull rage in his deep voice. "You've got your chance and lost."

The female knight's fingers tightened around the handle of her sword and Tobias understood what that meant. The very first duel between them was not fair to begin with. He was fifteen and could be considered a man while Ladybug was still a twelve-year-old child. However, that couldn't stop her from getting up after every time she was knocked down as well as preventing him from going to the Khal's Great Stable every afternoon to accept the challenge.

Now the situation didn't change much except that they are using real swords instead of wooden ones and if thing went on like this, one of then would die. Of course Tobias had no intention of killing an old acquaintance, but the difficulty was that he could guarantee his own chance of survival if he didn't take her seriously. Beatrice was a student of Gray and she wouldn't easily fall for that kind of trap again.

"I yield."

Those strange words rang as she threw her sword on the stone floor. Beatrice Delannoy, His Ladybug had surrendered. The confusion was obvious on the mercenary's face when he returned the blade to its sheath, followed after it was a sad smile.

Everything has changed, he thought silently. He was no longer that young man who have a crush on highborn lady, just as she was no longer his Lady Ladybug.

"This is the reasonwhy I always told you not to draw your sword while ." Gray picked up his sword and angrily pressed it against Beatrice's chest. The female knight's face reddened. "You should have forseen his attack."

"Using trick doesn't have honor."

"That's true, but dying like an idiot isn't more honorable either." The old knight pointed to the wooden door. "Go out there and wait, girl. Remember not to pick a fight with anyone else, can you do that?"

Beatrice obviously disliked that command but like every knights trained in the , she would obey it even without enthusiasm. The honest residents of the Catfish riverport also have the same idea. They were willing to nestle to the side to give way to the female knight, though she didn't like her at all.

"A few years ago, they even smirked when they were passing by," Tobias commented. "Now, if you cough for just a few hours, these guys will get their pants ready. I guess Rose Riders must be busy lately, right? "

Gray did not respond. He waved his hand toward the curious crowd and told them to disperse. Then the old knight then turned to him, sighing:

"This morning we just hanged four men on Bronzewick Street, two days ago eight so hopefully by the end of the week there will be no more rapists or robbers."

The mercenary knight nodded his head in agreement. "Extreme measures can be understood in extreme situations."

"Right. As you said, this is an extreme situation. "He glanced at the broken table." I've trained more than half of the order myself and more than anyone else, I know their limits. It's no coincidence I came to you today. "

The best blooming flowers in warm spring weather often cannot survive the harsh winter. What a shame that Pina named her knight after a flower, as if she had already predicted their gloomy future.

"Forgive me for my harsh words and previous behavior , sir" Tobias bowed down his head slightly. "I was just trying to find a way to turn down your offer."

"No need to apologize, young man. This is not the first time I've heard those words and certainly not the last time." The old knight smiled and tapped his shoulder "They say words cut deeper than sword but when you get older, you know it's completely bullock. I was cut by sword, spear, warhammer and swear to the gods, a kitchen knife include. But no word has ever penetrated my breastplate. They're just like ... "

"... Rain fall on rock?"

The old man's eyes narrowed. "Gonzori said you came from the east. Where exactly is that, I'm curious. "

"Is it necessary, Sir Gray? You can't find it on the map anyway. "

"Oh, it looks like I got my nose into something that wasn't my bussiness. Can you forgive this old man, Tobias? "He slightly bow down but with a little more grace than Tobias." Anyway I leave my offer here with you, so you can think it through in two or three day perhaps. In case you agree, go to Jade Palace tomorrow to meet with Her Royal Highness and we will discuss the details later, okay? You won't loose a thing in this, I guarantee that. "

Gray of Thrac didn't lied, he simply sold him half the truth. The rewards were always proportional to the level of danger and Tobias had been selling his sword long enough to know when to stop. The cemetery was full of people who die of greed and he has no intention of following them to the grave.

Moreover, he already has a princess to rescue. Two would be too much. However, just as the mercenary knight was about to make a final decision, he heard a girly voice spoken up behind his back :

"The mission you mentioned … It took place outside of the city, right?"

Tobias turned around to find Leta climbing down the bench and walking towards them. Her hands were placed behind her back, the hood was removed, revealing her chestnut hair and her beautiful face, though slightly pale. He felt a little pity at the sign. The road from Vizima to the capital was overwhelming for a child of her age.

"Lady .. Sorry but I .."

"Leta." She interrupted. "And I'm not a lady."

And like no peasant girl dared to speak to a knight in that kind of tone. Leta needs to learn how to behave properly or their path to Agula would be very long and painful.

"Leta is my aunt's child," Tobias added, but he himself felt silly and superfluous. "She had just died, so the girl has no one left."

"What about his father?"

"Die many years." He replied "Pneumonia."

The old knight laughed in a mocking tone "Do you think people would believe such a story?"

"You will be surprised. These idiots are many these day. Besides, I'm also very good at persuading. "

"Thank you, sir but I believe I can handle it myself," Leta said with displeasure. This was the first time in many years that someone had called him Sir, and it sounded as strange as the time when the Sakkos cavalry called him the Saderan rat. "You said you don't care who I am or where I'm from, Sir Gray? "

"Everyone has their own secret, mi'lady, but as long as the secret is not harmful to Princess Pina, it is not my concern."

"Harmful to the princess, but not to the Empire?"

Those words were like arrows piercing the armor of the knight. His eyes narrowed.

"Let's say that Princess Pina is always loyal to the Empire and I will always be loyal to the princess."

Like all the people from the land conquered by Imperial legions, Gray never found his heart beating faster while fighting under the golden eagle banner or sobbing at the song tributed to Marius's last moment or the desperated fights on walls around here against the Niffheim's armies. In this regard, Tobias could sympathize with him because even a man who have half of Saderan blood flowing in his vein like Tobias would only regard the Imperial expansion in East as a simple matter of money and power.

"Forgive me, sir. I didn't mean to offend you. "She gently lowered entire her body with her back straight and her legs crossed like a real lady." Back to the question just now, did the mission you mentioned will take place outside the city? "

"Can you tell me why you think it would be so, Lady Leta?"

"I'm not a lady," Leta repeated. "You said I needed Sir Tobias's talent, but I kept wondering what kind of talent it was. Swordmanship? You have a few dozen well-trained knights under your command, but Tobias is somehow better than them? I don't think so! Certainly it's about something else beside his fighting skills, right? Then I remembered that Sir Tobias was the one who went from one end of the Empire to the other while the your Knights were primarily stationed in the capital and it was not difficult to connect those two. "

Gray was a little hesitant, maybe due to the sensitivity of the information or because he was shocked at the sharp mind of a twelve-year-old child but in the end, the hero of the battle of the Well gave her his answer:

"You're right, but I'm afraid I can only reveal that much."

"That's more than enough." Leta took a deep breath and as if slapping his face, she declared loudly, "We agree with the offer."

Stubborn, always doing things in her own way and ignoring what others thought. Although Tobias sometimes relishes her characteristic as a bottle of Ebros, everything had its limits. It was unacceptable to decide on his behalf, and if Gray was not here, she would have gotten a slap in the face.

"We?" He chuckled. "Why can't I remember talking to you about this?"

"The discussion was over with your idiotic plan."

And here was her solution. Engaging in a political conspiracy led by an idiot? For the love of Gods, if she had to involved in a power struggle, at least he should have chosen the winning side first. Zorzal was a unsufferable bastard but he has an army behind him while the poor princess had only Gray and a bunch of knights that had yet fought a single battle in their life. This war was over even before it started.

"An easy decision, I suppose so! Especially when it isnt you who risk the neck. "

"Don't you want to be a true knight in the story? This is your chance, sir Tobias" Said the girl sarcastically."Risking the neck was something that knights always do."

They also did many other things. In Rossbart, he saw Sir Petain the Wild riding like crazy on the burning streets, the beautiful sword in his hand painted horrific red lines on the crowd of people trying to flee the city. Before that was Sir Ethan Mance and the retard shepherd girl, whom Sir Ethan believed was worthy of plugging his penis into before Tobias assured thathe wouldn't plug anything in anyone ever again.

"It's hard to argue with the lady's logic." Gray said, "Danger is like spice of life to people like us, I'm sure you would agree."

"I'm not a lady."

This time the old man grimaced. "A daughther come from noble houses should be addressed as lady unless she is a princess or queen. Although I wasn't educated that much during my younger years, such basic things I also … "

Gray stopped when he saw a rare smile on Leta's solemn face. She was an annoying child and the way she smiled was equally annoyed and uncomfortable. If he remembered correctly, the last time she did that was at Aquaticus, when he tried to to eat a pigeon pie with a fork.

"Tobias." The old knight turned to the mercenary, seeming to understand the meaning behind her odd behavior. "Who is this girl?"

"I thought you said you didn't care."

"Now's not the time for joke and sarcasm, young man." Gray coldly reminded him, "Who is she?"

Tobias glanced at Leta and wondered if this was a good idea. Sure, they could trust Gray and his foolish belife in honnor, but could they trust his master? Wallon was very rich and contrary to fairy tales, having money in life means having everything. There was no guarantee that that Pina wouldn't conveniently sell them like a pair of ox at cattle market. But it was too late and too pointless to ask questions like that! Gray won't stop bothering Tobias until he could knows who Leta was and his plan to get them out of this city was no better.

"If this is your decision," he sighed. "It would be better if you could speak for yourself."

She nodded and serectly signaled the knight to knee down next to her feet. The old man excitedly followed orders with an amused smile on his lips, but as soon as Leta spoke, the smile disappeared:

"Lydia Harrietta Aramond, the legitimate Queen of Agula, the duchess of Achen and Dampe, Master of the Silver River and I request an audience with your master, Pina Co Landa."


End file.
